Мужчина наблюдает, как рабочие убирают обломки разрушенного здания, которое якобы было профессиональным колледжем, используемым в качестве временного жилья для российских солдат, 63 из которых погибли в результате ракетного удара Украины - АЛЕКСАНДР ЕРМОЧЕНКО/REUTERS
nationalreview: Minutes after ushering in the New Year, Ukrainians released a massive rocket barrage on a Russian military base in the Donetsk region, likely killing hundreds of soldiers.
Although the figures remain contested, Russian bloggers’ and journalists’ estimates range between 200 and 600 casualties, the Wall Street Journal reports. Igor Girkin, a former soldier who led Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, criticized the Russian government for placing military equipment near barracks. “The number of dead and wounded goes into many hundreds,” Girkin claimed.
Russian state media sought to allay concerns about the attack by releasing a statement claiming that only 63 troops had died in it.
Ukrainian leaders have yet to announce a death toll, but military sources contend that 400 Russian soldiers were killed and an additional 300 were wounded in the barrage.
The strike comes on the heels of competing year-end messages delivered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to their respective nations. While Zelensky sought to strengthen Ukraine’s resolve in the face of Russian attacks on civilian areas, Putin echoed his commitment to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“On February 24, millions of us made a choice. . . . Not a white flag, but a blue and yellow flag. Not escaping, but meeting. Meeting the enemy. Resisting and fighting,” Zelensky said during his video address, released just before midnight on New Year’s Eve.
The day before, Putin had claimed that “it was a year of truly pivotal, fateful events,” while visiting a military district in southern Russia. “They have become the frontier that lays the foundation for our common future, our true independence. This is what we are fighting for today, protecting our people in our own historical territories, in the new regions of the Russian Federation,” Putin had stated.
The Ukrainian strike relied on American-supplied HIMARS rocket systems designed by Lockheed Martin.
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