Two Russian ballistic missiles hit a Ukrainian military institute in the central Ukrainian city of Poltava, killing at least 51 and wounding 235, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
The attack is being reported as the single deadliest strike in Ukraine of the year. Russia has stepped up its missile and drone attacks across Ukraine in response to the Ukrainian invasion of Kursk, which is being carried out with US weapons and Western intelligence.
Ukrainian officials told AP that the strike on the military institute also hit a nearby hospital. So far, Russia has not commented on the attack, but it has been reported by Russian media.
Vladimir Rogov, chairman of a pro-Russia movement in Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia, said Russian forces delivered the missile strike.
“It was this manpower [of the military school] that was hit by a missile strike. It happened at the moment when they all gathered for their daily routine, when initially there were over half a thousand servicemen. The enemy’s losses amount to hundreds of people,” Rogov said, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
TASS also reported that Igor Mosiychuk, a far-right former Ukrainian lawmaker, said that the casualty rate is higher than what’s been reported. “Many people were injured, up to 500, and dozens died. The city hospitals are overcrowded,” he wrote on Telegram.
