Ukrainian New Year’s Strike on Russian Base Kills Hundreds
Minutes after ringing in the new year, the Ukrainians launched a huge rocket barrage at a Russian military base located in Donetsk, killing likely hundreds of soldiers.
The Wall Street Journal reports that although the numbers are still disputed, journalists and bloggers from Russia have estimated between 200-600 casualties. Former soldier Igor Girkin, who led Russian separatist forces against eastern Ukraine, has criticized the Russian government’s placement of military equipment near barracks. Girkin stated that the number of wounded and dead is in the hundreds.
Russian state media tried to dispel concerns over the attack by publishing a statement that claimed only 63 soldiers had been killed in it.
Although leaders of Ukraine have not yet announced a death toll from the attack, military sources claim that 400 Russian soldiers were killed and 300 more were injured in the incident.
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This strike follows competing year-end messages sent by Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian President, and Vladimir Putin, to their respective countries. Zelensky aimed to strengthen Ukraine’s resolve against Russian attacks on civilian areas. Putin reiterated his support for Russia’s invasion.
“On February 24, many of us made a decision. . . . It is not a white flag but a blue-and-yellow flag. Meeting, not escaping. Meeting the enemy. “Resisting and fighting,” Zelensky stated during his video address that was released just before midnight on New Years Eve.
While visiting a military area in southern Russia, Putin claimed that the year had been “a year of truly pivotal and fateful events”. They have been the frontier that laid the foundation for our shared future, our true independence. Putin stated that this is what Putin was fighting for, defending our people in their historical territories and in the new Russian Federation regions.
Lockheed Martin’s HIMARS rocket systems were used in the Ukrainian strike.
