At least 63 Russian soldiers were killed in an attack by Ukrainian troops on the town of Makiivka in eastern Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Monday (2), without specifying the date when it happened.
According to Russian ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, “four incendiary rockets” hit a temporary Russian army mobilization center in Makiivka, a Russianheld town in the eastern Donetsk region.
The Russian army which rarely discloses its casualties has never reported so many dead among its troops in a single attack.
The Russian ministry said it was an attack using HIMARS rocket launchers, a type of weapon supplied to Ukraine by the United States, and said its forces shot down two of the six rockets.
“All help and support will be given to the families and loved ones of the dead soldiers,” the spokesman added.
On Sunday, Russian and Ukrainian media reported an attack in Makiivka that took place on Saturday night during the New Year.
The attack occurred due to “military personnel’s use of mobile phones,” which enabled the Ukrainian army to track them through geolocation, an anonymous source for Donetsk separatist authorities said.
Without claiming responsibility for the attack, the Ukrainian military announced that the number of Russian soldiers killed in Makiivka was much higher.