Ukraine strike on New Year’s day caused number of Russian death toll up to 400. The strike hit a building in the city of Makiivka, where Russian forces were stationed.
In a statement on Monday, Russia’s defence ministry said Ukrainian forces launched six rockets using the US-made Himars rocket system at a building housing Russian troops. Two of them were shot down.
Russian officials contested the figure, saying only 63 troops were killed, yet it is the biggest number of fatalities Moscow has admitted in a single incident since the war began 10 months ago. Neither claim has been verified.
Elsewhere, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky claims that Russia is preparing a protracted campaign of drone assaults in an effort to demoralize Ukraine. He had received intelligence that Moscow would use Iranian-made Shahed drones to carry out the attacks. It follows after a Ukranian attack in the Donbass region. (Reports from Bombo Kelly Cordero)
