Ukraine says that around 400 Russian soldiers have been killed in a missile attack on the occupied Donetsk region.
The attack targeted a building in the city of Makioka where Russian forces were believed to be stationed.
The data has not been verified. Pro-Russian officials acknowledged the casualties, but did not confirm the reported figures.
Meanwhile, in Kyiv, airstrikes were heard on Sunday night, as the latest wave of attacks by Russia continues.
Daniil Bezsonov, a senior Russian-backed official in the occupied Donetsk region, said the missile landed on Makioka two minutes after midnight on New Year’s Day.
“The vocational school was dealt a major blow by the American MLRS Hummares,” he said, referring to the US-supplied missiles.
“There were dead and wounded, the exact number is still unknown,” Bezsonov added in a post on the messaging app Telegram.
Although access to Russian-controlled areas is restricted, a number of Russian commentators and bloggers acknowledged the attack – but suggested the number was lower than claimed.
Vladimir Solovyov, a Russian presenter, wrote on Telegram that “losses were significant … but not even close to 400”.
But Igor Gerkin, a pro-Russian observer, said hundreds had been killed and injured, although the exact number was still unknown due to large numbers missing. The building itself was “almost completely destroyed,” he said.
He added that the victims were mainly active soldiers – that is, recent recruits rather than those who chose to fight. He also said that the ammunition was kept in the same building where the soldiers were, adding to the damage.
“Almost all military equipment was also destroyed, which was standing right next to the building, without any camouflage,” he wrote on Telegram.
Gerkin is a popular military blogger, who led Russian-backed separatists when they seized large parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014. He was recently found guilty of murder for his role in the downing of flight MH17.
Despite his pro-Russian stance, he regularly criticizes the Russian military leadership and their tactics.
According to the Ukrainian army, the death toll is 400, and 300 people have been injured.
The Ukrainian military claims that almost daily attacks kill dozens, sometimes hundreds, of soldiers, so caution is needed. But if the claims are confirmed, it could be one of the deadliest attacks by Ukraine on Russian targets in the war.
Ukraine has not confirmed that the strikes were carried out with Humaars missiles, maintaining a long-standing policy of not releasing details about its strikes.
He merely quipped that the deaths were the result of “careless handling of heating appliances, neglect of safety measures, smoking in an unknown place”.
At least 25 rockets were fired into the area overnight on New Year’s Eve, the Russian-backed administration said.
