500 military specialists killed, wounded in Russian strike: Reports
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Sputnik cites a senior military official saying that the casualties in the strike targeting Ukraine's Poltava included mercenaries from Europe.
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The building reportedly hosting foreign and local military specialists after being targeted by a Russian strike in Poltava, Ukraine on September 3, 2024 (Social media)
A Russian strike earlier this week targeting a training center in Ukraine's Poltava resulted in the deaths and injuries of approximately 500 military specialists, including mercenaries from Europe, Sputnik reported on Friday citing a senior military official.
The strike, which took place on September 3, killed and wounded "servicepeople of the Ukrainian armed forces and the National Guard - communication specialists, operators of radio-electronic warfare systems, electronic intelligence, unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as foreign mercenaries from Poland, France, Germany, and Sweden, who were training the Ukrainian military," the source said in a statement.
Read more: Trump accuses Ukraine of faking death toll, claims number is higher
Additionally, a Russian attack using Iskander tactical ballistic missiles targeting a station hosting foreign mercenaries in Kostyantynivka killed 50 French fighters, the news outlet said citing the statement.
The source also mentioned another strike on September 4, targeting the temporary positions of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine's Krivoy Rog (Kryvyi Rih), resulting in over 250 militants killed.
High-precision strikes against Ukrainian forces, mercenaries, and military infrastructure will now be a regular occurrence, the source concluded as per Sputnik.
Russia has increased the intensity and nature of its attacks and targets in the past weeks following the Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk region, which was backed and supported by the United States and the West.
Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in late August that Ukraine has full liberty to utilize US weapons against Russia throughout the Kursk invasion, at the US' discretion.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that "Ukraine has been given complete carte blanche for operations in Russian regions," adding that "extremely serious conclusions follow from all this."
Read more: Russia inflicts more losses among Kiev's forces in Kursk, MoD reports
She further added that the Biden administration was making "new concessions" to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and giving him absolute freedom to use US-supplied weapons against Russia, including deep into Russian territories.
Zakharova concluded her statement by describing the US escalation as "provocative".
