Ukraine says its army killed 400 Russian soldiers, and wounded another 300, in a massive New Year's Eve missile attack on the occupied Donetsk region.
The Department of Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine made the claim Saturday on the messaging app Telegram, while the Russian-installed administration in the region on Sunday said at least 25 rockets were fired in the barrage, the Washington Examiner reported.
In addition to some 400 killed in the attack, another 300 were injured, the news outlet reported.
According to the BBC, the missile targeted a building in the city of Makiivka.
"A massive blow was dealt to the vocational school from American MLRS HIMARS," Daniil Bezsonov, a senior Russian-backed official in the occupied parts of Donetsk, told the BBC, referring to U.S.-provided missiles.
"There were dead and wounded, the exact number is still unknown," Bezsonov added.
But Igor Girkin, a Russian military veteran turned commentator, said hundreds had been killed and wounded, and the building itself "almost completely destroyed," the BBC reported — noting victims were mainly recent Russian conscripts.
Girkin said ammunition was stored in the building, which detonated when the barracks was hit, the Washington Examiner reported, with the large number of casualties caused by "careless handling of heating devices."
Meanwhile, hours after the strike in Makiivka, Kyiv came under fire, with drone and missiles striking critical infrastructure, the Ukrainian capital's regional, Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said, adding that the weapons were Iranian-made Shahed drones.
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said energy facilities were damaged, disrupting power and heating supplies, the BBC reported.
Russia has been targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure for several months, destroying power stations and plunging millions into darkness during the country's freezing winter.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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