The Russian army assured on Sunday that it carried out strikes on military barracks in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, and inflicted heavy losses on its adversary in "
retaliation
" for the Ukrainian bombardment on Makiivka, which killed at least 89 Russian soldiers at New Year.
A Ukrainian military official denied this.
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"
In response to the Kiev regime's criminal strike in the first minutes of January 2023 ... Russian forces conducted a retaliatory operation
," the Russian Defense Ministry said in its daily report, claiming to have hit two barracks.
The precise date of this strike was not indicated by the ministry.
Read alsoRussia: funeral of soldiers killed in the Ukrainian Makiivka strike
Ukraine has denied any strikes on barracks in Kramatorsk, saying the Russian claim "
does not correspond to the truth
".
"
Russian troops do not have the capacity to deliver high-precision strikes
," a spokesman for the "
Eastern
" command of the Ukrainian army, Serguiï Tcherevaty, told the media Suspilne, denouncing a
Russian "
communication operation
". in the face of Ukrainian successes.
Local Ukrainian authorities reported that Kramatorsk was hit by seven rockets overnight.
Two other rockets targeted the nearby town of Kostiantynivka.
On Saturday, AFP journalists present in Kramatorsk heard at least four explosions before midnight.
The Russian army presented this strike as revenge for the one carried out in Makiivka, in pro-Russian separatist territory in eastern Ukraine, a few minutes after the start of the new year.
The Ukrainian army had targeted a temporary deployment point for Russian soldiers there, causing the death of at least 89 soldiers, according to the report given by Moscow - many more according to Russian sources and according to kyiv.