Kyiv has rejected a Russian claim that a missile strike on a city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region killed 600 of its troops, insisting there were no fatalities.
Russia’s defence ministry had earlier alleged that missiles had hit two makeshift bases housing 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers in the city of Kramatorsk.
Its spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said the bombardment had been launched in retaliation for Ukraine’s New Year’s Eve attack on temporary bases in the eastern city of Makiivka, which killed at least 89 Russian troops.
But Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraine‘s forces in the east, told the Associated Press on Sunday that the strikes on Kramatorsk only damaged civilian infrastructure, adding: “The armed forces of Ukraine weren’t affected.”
Regional administrators in Donetsk similarly reported no casualties, adding that seven Russian missiles hit the city, while two more struck the nearby urban hub of Konstantynivka.
It said an educational institution, an industrial facility, and garages were damaged in Kramatorsk, while an industrial zone was hit in Kostyantynivka.
Kramatorsk mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko said two school buildings and eight apartments were damaged.
In the early hours of 1 January, Ukrainian forces fired rockets at a facility in Makiivka, also in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russian soldiers were stationed.
It constituted one of the deadliest attacks on the Kremlin’s forces since the war began on 24 February last year.
Also on Sunday, the Ukrainian military claimed to have hit a residential hall of a medical university in Rubizhne, a town in the Russian-occupied eastern Luhansk region, killing 14 Russian soldiers housed there. The number of wounded was unknown, it said.
Elsewhere in the east, Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said one person was killed in strikes on Bakhmut, with eight others hurt.
In the north-eastern Kharkiv region, the town of Merefa was hit during the night, killing one person, while two other settlements in the region were shelled, governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
It comes after Russian forces ended a partially observed ceasefire timed to coincide with Orthodox Christmas celebrations on Saturday.
With additional reporting from The Associated Press
