YEREVAN, JANUARY 3, ARTSAKHPRESS. 63 Russian troops have been killed by a Ukrainian missile strike, Moscow confirmed on Monday. The bombardment hit a temporary housing area used by the Russian forces in Donbass, RT reported.
The facility in the city of Makeyevka in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic was targeted by six missiles from US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, the Russian Defense ministry said. Two projectiles were intercepted by air defenses, but four made it through, the statement added.
Ukrainian authorities say that the strike killed 400 Russian troops, but Russia denies this statement, saying that the bombing killed 63.
The strike was earlier reported by the Donetsk People’s Republic’s Information Minister Daniil Bezsonov, who said the missiles targeted the building of a vocational school where the troops were stationed. It happened precisely at 0:01 am on New Year’s night, while the serviceman were celebrating, he added. According to Russian media reports the use of mobile phones by Russian troops in the facility could’ve given away their location.
Meanwhile, the Russian TASS News Agency reported that Ukrainian forces shelled the territory of Donetsk People’s Republic 80 times in one day, with 7 towns coming under fire. 1 civilian was killed and 2 others were wounded, according to the report.
In turn, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskii said in an address that during the first two days of 2023 Ukraine downed more than 80 Iranian-made loitering munitions used by Russia. Ukrainian authorities say Russian forces fired at Druzhovka, a town in Kramatorsky region in the Donbass controlled by Ukrainian forces. Two people were wounded. The strike in Druzhovka was caught on camera by the French TMC channel.
The strike in the Donetsk region live on the French TV channel TMC.
— FLASH (@Flash_news_ua) January 2, 2023
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Ukrainian authorities say Russia is focusing its main offensive in the direction of Bakhmut to gain complete control over Donetsk and Lugansk.
