US-made HIMARS destroyed in new strikes – Moscow

 FILE PHOTO. © JAM STA ROSA / AFP

Source: RT

More than 200 Ukrainian troops and foreign ‘mercenaries’ were killed in the missile attacks, Russia’s Defense Ministry has claimed

Russian forces have destroyed several US-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers and eliminated scores of Ukrainian troops and dozens of foreign fighters in a fresh series of missile strikes, Moscow’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

According to the military, two launchers were destroyed at the Druzhkovka railway station in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). The second pair of launchers, which were firing at other DPR cities, were located near the Ukrainian-held city of Kramatorsk, the ministry added.

In addition, nine HIMARS rockets were intercepted near the frontline in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), as well as in Kherson Region to the north of Crimea, the statement said.

The Russian Air Force’s “precision strikes” on positions of the “foreign legion” fighting for Ukraine near Kramatorsk and Maslyakovka destroyed over 130 “foreign mercenaries,” it added.

Up to 120 Ukrainian soldiers were eliminated at Druzhkovka railway station, the military claimed.

This attack comes after Russia confirmed on Monday that over 60 of its soldiers were killed in Makeyevka, when Kiev's forces targeted the building they were housed in with missiles fired from HIMARS launchers.

The strike had earlier been reported by the republic’s Information Minister Daniil Bezsonov, who claimed it happened precisely at 0:01 am on New Year’s night.

Ukraine continues to request more weapons from the US and other Western countries, while Moscow insists that deliveries of foreign arms to Kiev will not change the course of the conflict and can only lead to more casualties.

Russian military issues update on deadly Ukrainian strike

Russian emergency workers remove the rubble of vocational school 19 destroyed by shelling in Makeyevka, Donetsk People's Republic, Russia. © Sputnik

Source: RT

The number of casualties in the New Year’s night strike has grown to at least 89 people

Nearly 90 troops were killed by a Ukrainian missile strike that hit a temporary housing area used by the Russian forces in the city of Makeyevka in Donetsk People’s Republic just after midnight on January 1, the Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday.

The death toll has grown to 89 people, including the unit’s deputy commander, the ministry said, as more bodies were pulled from the rubble of a vocational school where the troops were stationed on New Year’s night.

The facility was targeted by six missiles from a US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launcher, four of which penetrated air defenses, and hit the building at precisely 0:01am on January 1, the Defense ministry said, claiming that the launcher was later destroyed in a retaliatory strike.

While the fact-finding mission is still investigating the tragic incident, it is “already obvious that the main reason for what happened was the turning on and mass use of mobile phones by personnel – contrary to the ban – within the range of enemy weapons” which has allowed Ukrainian forces to trace their coordinates, Lieutenant General Sergey Sevryukov from the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces told reporters.

Moscow reiterated its pledge to provide all necessary assistance and support to the families of the fallen troops. Russia’s Foreign Ministry earlier condemned Washington for not only supplying sophisticated weapons to Kiev, but also providing the Ukrainian military with intelligence about the location of the Russian forces.

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Related:

The U.S. has sent around $113 billion in aid to Ukraine since February 2022

The U.S. has sent around $113 billion in aid to Ukraine since February 2022

This graph compares that aid to the 2021 military budgets of:

‣ India ($76.6B)
‣ U.K. ($68.4B)
‣ Russia ($65.9B)
‣ France ($56.6B)
‣ Germany ($56B).

The U.S. 2021 military budget was $800.67B.

So, who's at war with Russia? 

Is it the Ukraine or USA?

Dozens dead in Ukrainian strike on Russian troops – Moscow

 

Russian emergency workers remove the rubble of vocational school 19 destroyed by shelling in Makeyevka, Donetsk People's Republic, Russia. © Sputnik

Source: RT

The deadly attack took place in the city of Makeyevka in Donetsk People’s Republic, the Defense Ministry says

More than 60 Russian troops have been killed by a Ukrainian missile strike, Moscow confirmed on Monday. The bombardment hit a temporary housing area used by the Russian forces in Donbass.

The facility in the city of Makeyevka in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic was targeted by six missiles from US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, the Defense ministry said. Two projectiles were intercepted by air defenses, but four made it through, the statement added.

"As a result of a strike by four missiles with high-explosive warheads on a temporary deployment point, 63 Russian servicemen were killed,” Defense Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said during a briefing.

All necessary assistance and support will be provided to the families of the fallen troops, the ministry assured.

The strike was earlier reported by the Donetsk People’s Republic’s Information Minister Daniil Bezsonov, who said the missiles targeted the building of a vocational school where the troops were stationed. It happened precisely at 0:01 am on New Year’s night, while the serviceman were celebrating, he added.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry earlier condemned Washington for not only supplying sophisticated weapons to Kiev, but also providing the Ukrainian military with intelligence about the location of the Russian forces.

RELATED:

Stoltenberg warns of potential new Russian offensive in Ukraine

Military support for Kiev should be long-term, the NATO secretary general said

The West needs to brace for a protracted conflict between Ukraine and Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday, insisting that arms shipments to Kiev must continue.

Stoltenberg told the BBC that Russia’s partial mobilization, launched in September, shows that Moscow has no plans to end the hostilities in the near future. “All that indicates that they are prepared to continue the war and also try to potentially launch a new offensive,” he claimed.

The head of the US-led military bloc also insisted that the West continues to provide arms and other forms of support to Ukraine. According to the secretary general, “that's the only way to convince Russia that they have to sit down and negotiate in good faith and respect Ukraine as a sovereign independent nation in Europe.”

"What we do know is that what Ukraine can achieve around that table is totally dependent on the strength on the battlefield," he stressed.

On Friday, Stoltenberg claimed that while “it may sound paradoxical,” Western military support for Ukraine is "the quickest way to peace.”

Following the start of Russia’s military operation in late February, Western countries have ramped up their weapons shipments to Ukraine, a move that has been condemned by Moscow. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that NATO was using the military potential of nearly all of its member states against Moscow in Ukraine. According to the president, efforts to undermine the Russian economy in the “sanctions war” over Ukraine have largely failed.

Earlier, he also accused the West of turning Ukraine into “a colony”, and using its people as “cannon fodder, a battering ram against Russia.”

At the same time, the Kremlin maintains it is open to talks with Ukraine, accusing Kiev of refusing to negotiate. However, Moscow has insisted that Kiev must “recognize the reality on the ground” as a prerequisite for any peace talks, including the new status of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye as parts of Russia.