Moscow claims to have inflicted heavy losses on the Ukrainian army, which denies it, denouncing a “communication operation”. On New Year’s Eve, a strike killed 89 Russian soldiers.
The Russian army assured on Sunday that it carried out strikes on military barracks in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, and inflicted heavy losses on its adversary in “reprisalsto the Ukrainian bombardment of Makiivka, which had killed at least 89 Russian soldiers at New Year’s. A Ukrainian military official denied this.
“In response to the kyiv regime’s criminal strike in the first minutes of January 2023 (…), Russian forces carried out a retaliatory operation“, announced the Russian Ministry of Defense in its daily report, claiming to have struck two barracks. The precise date of this strike was not indicated by the ministry.
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Ukraine has denied any strikes on barracks in Kramatorsk, saying the Russian claim “does not correspond to the truth“. “Russian troops lack the ability to deliver high-precision strikes“, told the media Suspilne a spokesperson for the command “Eastof the Ukrainian army, Serguiï Tcherevaty, denouncing acommunication operationRussian in the face of Ukrainian successes.
Local Ukrainian authorities reported that Kramatorsk was hit by seven rockets overnight. Two other rockets targeted the nearby town of Kostiantynivka. On Saturday, AFP journalists present in Kramatorsk heard at least four explosions before midnight.
The Russian army presented this strike as revenge for the one carried out in Makiivka, in pro-Russian separatist territory in eastern Ukraine, a few minutes after the start of the new year. The Ukrainian army had targeted a temporary deployment point for Russian soldiers there, causing the death of at least 89 soldiers, according to the report given by Moscow – many more according to Russian sources and according to kyiv.