Ukraine has dismissed Russia’s claims that it carried out a ‘revenge attack’ that killed 600 Ukranian soldiers.
Moscow said the alleged attack in Kramatorsk was revenge for the reportedly huge death toll in a Ukrainian attack (in which at least 89 servicemen were killed) on New Year’s Eve through Russia’s defence ministry, in his statement on Sunday, January 8,
The statement said Moscow had used what it called reliable intelligence to target the Ukrainian troops.
‘More than 700 Ukrainian troops had been housed in one hostel and more than 600 in another,’ it said.
‘As a result of a massive missile strike on these temporary deployment points of Ukrainian army units, more than 600 Ukrainian servicemen were destroyed,’ the defence ministry said.
Now, Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukrainian Joint Forces has countered Moscow’s claim: ‘The Russian information is not true.’
‘Russian army attacked Kramatorsk with seven missiles at 11.30pm yesterday. But it does not have any impact on the Ukrainian army.’
A Finnish journalist who visited the site of the alleged strike in Kramatorsk said it is unlikely it was a direct hit.
Antii Kuronen said: ‘I’m there and it’s a bit strange that the building isn’t even insulated. Locals didn’t see any ambulances here in the morning either.
‘I heard the explosions last night when this target was also hit. Large crater (possibly S-300) in front of the school.
‘No direct hit. Military contacts visited the place in the morning and according to them the school was empty.’
Meanwhile, a Reuters reporter said on Sunday that the Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk missed its targets as there were no obvious signs of casualties.
The Reuters team reportedly visited two college dormitories that Moscow said had been temporarily housing Ukrainian personnel.
But neither dormitory in the eastern city of Kramatorsk appeared to have been directly hit or seriously damaged. There were no obvious signs that soldiers had been living there and no sign of bodies or traces of blood.
The Russian full statement named two buildings, the dormitory of a site called College No.47 and a dormitory affiliated with College No.28, both in Kramatorsk.
Photographs by Reuters showed some of the windows broken at the College No.47 dormitory. There was a large crater in the courtyard. The windows of the nearby college had been smashed.
Meanwhile, the College No.28 dormitory was entirely intact. A crater lay about 50 metres away from it closer to some garages. Some of the college’s windows were smashed.
‘There was an explosion, and then another explosion. The windows shook… Really, there’s nothing else to tell you. Just a normal day,’ said Mykhailo, a 41-year-old resident.
