Moscow said on Sunday its army carried out a deadly “revenge attack” in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk to avenge the deaths of 89 Russian soldiers killed in Makiivka.
“More than 600 Ukrainian soldiers were killed” as a result of an attack on Kyiv forces stationed in two buildings in Kramatorsk that were being used as barracks, the Russian defense ministry said in a statement, calling the attack a “revenge attack.”
The AFP could not immediately verify the report.
On Saturday, an AFP reporter in Kramatorsk, which is located in the eastern region of Donetsk, heard at least four explosions before midnight.
Both countries mark Orthodox Christmas on Saturday.
The Russian defense ministry did not say when exactly the attack took place, but said that Russian intelligence had “over the past 24 hours” confirmed the temporary deployment point of the Ukrainian armed forces in Kramatorsk.
More than 1,300 Ukrainian troops are stationed in two buildings, Moscow said.
Earlier on Sunday, Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional administration, said Russia had launched seven rocket attacks on Kramatorsk.
He said that “educational institutions, industrial facilities and garage cooperatives” had been damaged and there were no casualties.
In the New Year’s attack, Ukraine attacked a building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Makiivka that was being used as a barracks.
Russia admits 89 soldiers have been killed, the worst reported loss from the Ukrainian offensive.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 36-hour ceasefire to allow Orthodox Christians to mark Christmas, which is celebrated on January 7 in Russia and Ukraine.