The Ukrainian armed forces have confirmed that a missile strike carried out by Russia has targeted a military training unit, resulting in significant casualties among servicemen. Late on Tuesday, officials reported that three personnel had lost their lives and 18 others sustained injuries due to the attack.
Causalities and Location Details
Although the military did not disclose the exact location of the training ground, Ukrainian war correspondent Andrei Taplienko indicated that the site was situated in the Chernihiv region, located to the north of Kyiv and sharing borders with both Russia and Belarus.
Response from Russian Defense Ministry
In a statement, Russia’s Ministry of Defense released footage purportedly showing the missile strike involving an Iskander ballistic missile, which reportedly triggered more than 20 cluster-type explosions in a wooded area. This video has not been independently verified, but Russian officials asserted that the actual number of casualties among Ukrainian forces was much higher than what has been reported.
“Despite the security measures taken, unfortunately it was not possible to completely avoid losses among the personnel,”
the Ukrainian ground forces stated in a social media post. This incident marks the third attack on a Ukrainian training unit in just over two months. Previously, an Iskander missile strike in the northern border region of Sumy resulted in the deaths of six servicemen in May, and another assault last month led to 12 fatalities and 60 injuries.
The protection of Ukrainian troops during exercises remains a critical issue for the military. In response to the latest attack, officials announced an investigation into whether any “actions or inaction of officials” contributed to the deaths and injuries incurred during the missile strike on Tuesday evening. Following the deadly event last month, Mykhailo Drapatyi, commander of the ground forces, resigned, expressing that the victims were “young guys from a training battalion” and emphasizing that most had been sheltered at the time of the assault.