The Kremlin expressed confidence in the information provided by the Ministry of Defense regarding the deaths of 600 Ukrainian soldiers in an attack in the city of Kramatorsk, although there were reports that indicated the attack missed its target.
"Kremlin has absolute confidence, I want to remind you of the President's words that the main source of information is the Ministry of Defense," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing.
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense, in a statement, said the attack on buildings in Kramatorsk was a revenge operation for Ukraine's deadly attack last week at a Russian barracks in Makiivka, in the Donetsk area controlled by Moscow forces, where at least 89 soldiers were killed.
Moscow said it had used so-called reliable intelligence to target Ukrainian troops. More than 700 Ukrainian troops are stationed in one dormitory and more than 600 in other dormitories, he said.
"As a result of the massive missile strike at the temporary deployment point of this Ukrainian army unit, more than 600 Ukrainian soldiers were killed," the Defense Ministry claimed.
Higher Education Dormitory No.28 is completely intact. A crater located about 50 meters from it is closer to several garages. Several campus windows were broken.
"His voice was very loud, making people thrown out of bed. Several people were injured by his finger due to the blast wave," said Polina, 74, a resident who lives across from one of the dormitories.
"There was an explosion, then another explosion. The window hit me... Really, there's nothing more to tell. It's just a normal day," said Mykhailo, a 41-year-old resident.
Oleksandr Honcharenko, Mayor of Kramatorsk, said the attack had damaged two educational facilities, eight apartment and garage buildings but there were no casualties.
Meanwhile, Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of Donetsk Ukraine, said Russia had launched seven missile attacks in Kramatorsk.
A Reuters team visited two college dormitories that Moscow said temporarily accommodated Ukrainian personnel. It became a target, in revenge for the New Year's attack that killed dozens of Russian soldiers.
However, there are no dormitories in the east of the city of Kramatorsk that were directly affected or badly damaged. There is no clear sign that the army had lived there, with no signs of bodies or traces of blood.
Serhiy Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian military spokesman for the eastern region, described the claim of mass casualties as an attempt by the Russian Ministry of Defense to show it had responded to a recent Ukrainian attack on the Russian army.
"This is an information operation from the Russian defense ministry," Cherevatyi told Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne News.
Authorities in Kyiv did not immediately comment. Meanwhile, the Mayor of Kramatorsk previously said there were no casualties.
If true, it would be the only loss of Ukraine's largest troop since Russia invaded on February 24 last year.
Ukraine is believed to have stopped deploying troops adjacent to the same facility, following a deadly Russian missile strike at a base in western Ukraine in March that killed dozens of people.
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