After Ukraine said it killed or wounded more than 400 Russian soldiers in a rocket attack on New Year’s Eve, Russia’s military leadership retaliated on Jan. 8 with an alleged retaliatory strike.
Russia says it has killed more than 600 Ukrainian soldiers in a rocket attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.
Moscow’s Defense Ministry announced on Sunday that it was an attack on two buildings. More than 700 Ukrainian soldiers were housed in one of the buildings and more than 600 in the other.
This report has now been proven false.
Like America’s military think tank”Institute for the Study of War‘ writes in his report on the current situation, a Finnish journalist went to the site of the alleged rocket attack and found that only an empty school had been destroyed there. Also on site in Kramatorsk is the Italian war reporter Daniele Raineri.
He also visited the two places where Russia claims it killed Ukrainian soldiers. At both points the rockets did not hit their target but landed near the buildings.
Also Reuters news agency reporter found no evidence of the deadly attack in Kramatorsk. The two buildings that would have been destroyed are intact, writes the agency.
There is also no evidence that soldiers were housed there or evidence of injuries in the form of clothing or traces of blood.
Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukrainian troops in eastern Ukraine, called Russia’s statement an attempt to show force. “This is purely an information campaign,” he said.
The mayor of Kramatorsk had previously stated that there were no casualties in the attack.
The question is, is the Russian military leadership deliberately lying? Or did she think she actually hit the targets? This question cannot be answered.
Ukrainians have been reporting for months that Russian missiles are often inaccurate, partly due to their age. So it may be that Moscow truly believed it had achieved its objectives.
On the other hand, units of Russian troops also report successes from the front in Ukraine that never happened, just for carrying out an order.
Several Russian military bloggers, meanwhile, have criticized the Russian Defense Ministry, pointing out that it has already made fraudulent claims on several occasions. (with Reuters)
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