Videos circulating on social media show the aftermath of a missile attack on Ukraine’s partially Russian-occupied eastern Donetsk region, which reportedly targeted a Russian drone training center.
Denis Pushilin, the acting head of Moscow’s puppet Donetsk People’s Republic, said on his Telegram channel that a Ukrainian HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) attack on Tuesday killed six people and wounded a further 11.
SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images
The U.S. supplied HIMARS have allowed Ukraine to destroy Russia’s most advanced anti-aircraft missile systems. Last month, footage purportedly showed the aftermath of a HIMARS strike on a Russian battalion.
Pushilin said four “civilian infrastructure facilities” were damaged. There was a “direct hit to the building of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection,” he wrote.
“All victims are provided with medical assistance,” said Pushilin. “A man was wounded during shelling of the Budennovsky district. Nine apartment buildings and one medical facility were damaged.”
In occupied Donetsk was hit the so-called “Republican Center for Unmanned Systems”, where occupiers were training military drone operators. pic.twitter.com/QXKThyMPOF
— Maria Drutska 🇺🇦 (@maria_drutska) November 7, 2023
Ukraine hasn’t claimed responsibility for the attack. Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry and Ukraine’s Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Russian independent news outlet The Insider reported that Russian Telegram channel War Gonzo published a video filmed near this building, in which the roof and ceilings allegedly collapsed. The clip was reportedly quickly deleted by the channel.
The publication said the building is “visually similar” to the one that houses the “Vladimir Zhoga UAV Center,” which Russian agencies have said trains operators of kamikaze drones and surveillance drones.
Vladimir Zhoga was a separatist military leader killed early in 2022 during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Their addresses are also the same, The Insider reported, citing publicly available data.
The Ukrainian Military Center also reported that a missile attack launched by Kyiv destroyed the drone training center, citing numerous eyewitness videos and Russian media.
It said that Russian propagandists have attempted to deny that there is a military facility at the address, but videos circulating on social media reveal a memorial plaque bearing Zhoga’s name.
The plaque was unveiled in March 2023, the Ukrainian Military Center said, adding that some 10,000 people are believed to have completed training programs at the drone training hub.
A representative of Russia’s Investigative Committee told state-run news agency RIA Novosti that Ukraine carried out a targeted missile attack on civilian infrastructure in Donetsk.
Yan Gagin, an adviser to the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said evacuations were taking place.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.