Russian air strikes have hit a major training camp north of Kyiv, where British troops trained Ukrainian forces in how to smash Moscow’s tanks.
The former Soviet Desna training base - 50 miles north of the capital - played a major role in Ukraine ’s preparation for the February 24 invasion.
It was hit by missiles launched from Russian bombers, killing eight and wounding 12, as Moscow is trying to subdue Ukraine’s defence forces.
UK forces spent months at Desna training local troops in the use of deadly NLAW anti-tank missiles which have taken out hundreds of Russian vehicles.
The Daily Mirror visited the base, hidden in dense pine forests, earlier this year in mid-February as troops practised counter-attacking Vladimir Putin ’s tank columns.
This was where the troops of 72 Mechanised Brigade had been secretly coached in defence tactics by British anti-tank experts serving in the UK armed forces.
During Soviet times it is believed to have been Moscow’s second largest military training complex.
Today Ukraine paid tribute to the heroes of Azovstal steel works in Mariupol amid fears they will face terrorism trials in Moscow and Russia will double-cross Ukraine on a prisoner-swap agreement.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the Azov Battalion had interrupted Russia’s operation to seize swathes of territory in eastern and southern Ukraine by holding out for over 80 days.
Human rights watchdogs said there are further cases of “apparent war crimes” by Russian troops in two regions in Ukraine, one of them Chernihiv, where the Desna base is located.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report that Russian forces controlling much of the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions from late February through to March had subjected civilians to summary executions, torture and other abuses.
The report pointed to what HRW said were 22 apparent summary executions, nine other unlawful killings, six possible enforced disappearances and seven cases of torture.
HRW called for the alleged abuses to be “impartially investigated and appropriately prosecuted,” amid claims of around 10,000 alleged war crimes by Russian troops.
HRW visited a total of 17 villages and small towns in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions and interviewed 65
people between April 10 and May 10, including former detainees who suffered under the Russian occupation.
A Kyiv district court today began hearing its first war crimes trial against a Russian soldier who took part in Moscow’s Feb. 24 invasion.
Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old Russian tank commander, who is accused of murdering a 62-year-old civilian, told the court he pleaded guilty.
