63 Russian soldiers killed in a Ukrainian strike in the Donetsk region – RT in French

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the death of 63 soldiers in a bombing carried out by the Ukrainian army on a temporary deployment center of Russian forces in Makeyevka, in the Donetsk region.

On January 2, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced in a press release that 63 soldiers had lost their lives in a strike in Makeyevka, in the Donetsk region. The Russian Defense said that the bombardment, the date of which has not been communicated, had been carried out by the Ukrainian army.

The same source further specifies that six missiles were fired by a Himars multiple rocket launcher (provided by Washington to Ukraine), targeting “a temporary deployment center” of Russian forces. Two of the projectiles were intercepted, but four missiles fell on the military center.

“All necessary assistance and support will be provided to the families and loved ones of the deceased servicemen,” the ministry said.

A strike that occurred at the transition to the New Year?

Earlier, Donetsk People’s Republic Information Minister Daniil Bezsonov reported on a missile strike on a vocational school where the troops were located. “Local witnesses report that the explosion took place exactly at 12:01 a.m.,” he said in a message posted on Telegram.

According to a source from the security forces quoted by Roman Kossarev, RT correspondent in Donetsk, this bombardment was made possible by the heavy use by the military of their Russian SIM cards. “Many have started calling their loved ones to wish them a happy new year. Unsurprisingly, such an accumulation of SIM cards in one place was spotted by the enemy, who wasted no time in hitting them,” the correspondent reported on his Telegram account. A source quoted by Tas reported the same chain of events.

Makeyevka is in the Donbass, and more precisely in the People’s Republic of Donetsk, a region which seceded from Ukraine following the 2014 coup and which has since been the target of bombardments by the Ukrainian army. . Like three other regions (Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson), the Donetsk region joined the Russian Federation in 2022 in the context of the “special military operation” launched by Moscow.

On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of an offensive in Ukraine aimed at demilitarizing and “denazifying” kyiv and helping the populations of Donbass.