Russian missile strike hits Ukrainian training base, 12 dead

At least 12 Ukrainian soldiers are reported dead and over 60 others injured in a Russian missile strike which hit a Ukrainian army training unit on Sunday, according to a statement put out by Ukrainian ground forces in a statement.

The strike took place at 12:50pm (local time), said the statement, which stressed that there were no troop formations or large gatherings of personnel at the time. It also noted that an investigative commission had been established to determine the circumstances surrounding the attack that resulted in significant personnel losses.

This training unit is located within the 1000 km active front line between Moscow and Kyiv, and falls in the range of Russian reconnaissance and drone strike capabilities.

Ukrainian forces are facing a manpower crunch and are taking additional measures to prevent large gatherings, as Russian drones densely patrol the skies along the front line in search of targets.

“If it is established that the actions or inaction of officials led to the death or injury of servicemen, those responsible will be held strictly accountable,” the Ukrainian Ground Forces' statement said.

On Sunday, Russia’s ministry of defense announced it had seized control of the village of Oleksiivka in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region. A day earlier, Ukrainian officials in Sumy mandated evacuations in 11 additional settlements due to continued Russian advances in the region. Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated on Saturday that Russian troops were concentrating their primary offensive operations on Pokrovsk, Toretsk, and Lyman in the Donetsk region, as well as along the Sumy border.

The strike comes amidst the looming uncertainty over the participation of Ukrainian diplomats in a new round of peace talks proposed by Turkey starting early next week in Istanbul. Kyiv has asked the Kremlin to provide a memorandum setting out the roadmap to end the over three-year war before the talks begin.

Whereas Moscow previously said it would share its memorandum during the talks.

In his evening address Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Moscow to stop “playing with diplomacy” by withholding the document.

“At this point, we don’t have any clear information about what the Russians are planning to do in Istanbul,” he said.

“Of course, everyone in the world wants diplomacy to work and a real ceasefire to happen. Everyone wants Russia to stop playing with diplomacy and end the war. Everyone wants serious peace, and Russia must agree to this.”