Dozens of Russian recruits killed by Ukrainian strike in Donetsk region - source - Reuters.com

Jan 2 (Reuters) - Dozens of Russian recruits were killed successful a Ukrainian New Year's Eve onslaught connected their quarters successful the Russian-controlled portion of Ukraine's Donetsk province, a root adjacent to the Russian-appointed enactment said connected Monday.

Footage posted online, which Reuters could not instantly verify, showed a gathering purported to beryllium a vocational assemblage successful the mining municipality of Makiivka reduced to a tract of smouldering rubble.

The Donetsk source, who declined to beryllium named, said: "According to my information, determination are less than 100 killed truthful far."

Ukraine's defence ministry said arsenic galore arsenic 400 Russians had been killed.

"What is being reported is greatly exaggerated. Fifty-eight wounded were brought successful overnight, which is simply a batch for a mean time and not overmuch if you judge the accusation astir hundreds of dead. It was a tract for mobilised Russian recruits."

Reuters was incapable to verify the battlefield account.

The Russian Defence Ministry did not instantly respond to a petition for a comment. In its regular study connected Sunday, it said it had destroyed 7 HIMARS rockets fired by Ukrainian forces, including adjacent Makiivka.

Russia has mobilised since September astatine slightest 300,000 soldiers and has been sending them to bolster its faltering subject run successful Ukraine.

'MASSIVE STRIKE'

Daniil Bezsonov, a elder Russian-backed determination authoritative successful the Moscow-controlled parts of the Donetsk region, said the vocational schoolhouse had been hit by U.S.-made HIMARS rockets astatine astir midnight, arsenic radical successful the portion would person been celebrating the commencement of the New Year.

"There was a monolithic onslaught connected the vocational schoolhouse from American MLRS HIMARS," Bezsonov said connected the Telegram messaging app. "There were dormant and wounded, the nonstop fig is inactive unknown. The gathering itself was severely damaged."

Igor Girkin, a nationalist and erstwhile Federal Security Service (FSB) serviceman who helped Russia annex Crimea successful 2014 and past organise pro-Russian militias successful eastbound Ukraine, said successful a Telegram station astatine 0908 GMT connected Monday that "the fig of dormant and wounded runs into galore hundreds".

Girkin, who has bitterly criticised Russia's subject failures successful Ukraine, said ammunition had been stored successful the aforesaid gathering wherever the recruits had been accommodated.

"This is not the lone specified (extremely dense) deployment of unit and instrumentality successful the demolition portion [range] of HIMARS missiles," helium wrote. "And - yes - this is not the archetypal specified case."

Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lidia Kelly, Ron Popeski and Kevin Liffey Editing by Nick Zieminski and Gareth Jones

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