Russian media identifies 68 soldiers killed in Ukrainian strike while on parade – photo
Vazhnye Istorii, a Russian media outlet, has stated that it has verified a list of 68 Russian soldiers who were killed while on parade, waiting for inspection by their superior officer, in an attack by Ukrainian forces in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk Oblast on 20 February.
Source: Russian media outlet Vazhnye Istorii
Details: According to Vazhnye Istorii, all the soldiers were assigned to the military unit No. 06705 in Russia’s Zabaykalsky Krai and served in the 36th Motorised Rifle Brigade.
The authenticity of the list of the Russians who were killed and the fact that the attack took place while the soldiers were on parade in front of Major General Oleg Moiseev, Commander of the 29th Army of the Eastern Military District, was confirmed by an employee of the unit.
Moiseev said that the strike was so strong that "everything was scattered" and "there were a lot of wounded", some of whom were taken to hospital in Rostov-on-Don.
Vazhnye Istorii writes that they know the names of 66 soldiers, and two more could not be identified.
Vazhnye Istorii also found the social media accounts of some of those who were killed – all of them were last online on the day of the attack.
The comments under the photo of one of them, Alexander Rustamov, included photos of candles and the words "God, grant peace to his soul!"
Vazhnye Istorii also found the accounts of other soldiers on the list – Alexander Pusev, Sergei Petrov, Alexei Filimonov, Vitaly Ishchenko and Denis Sakhatsky. All of them were last online on 20 February.
Soldier Alexei Mikhalev, who calls himself the deputy commander of a Special Forces battalion of the Eastern Military District, wrote a post in his VKontakte group: "Rest in peace, my brothers-in-arms, 20 February 2024 is a date forever in my heart."
Background:
- Earlier, BBC News Russian reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out a strike on 20 February, hitting Russian soldiers who were on parade waiting for their commander in the occupied part of Donetsk Oblast. This strike reportedly killed at least 60 Russian occupiers.
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