UKRAINE has confirmed a huge Russian missile strike on a training base which reportedly killed nearly 40 soldiers and left about three times as many wounded.
Footage from a Russian spy drone shows a large group of people outdoors starting to sprint before at least 50 cluster bombs explode almost simultaneously.
There was no official death toll but sources in Ukraine said up to 39 died and more than 100 were injured in Saturday’s strike on the Cherkaske base near Dnipro.
However, the Kremlin claimed fatalities were four times higher and included “foreign instructors”.
Also, in a Russian drone attack on Kharkiv on Sunday, the fifth floor of a residential building was left in flames and five people were injured.
It is rare for Ukraine to admit military losses but Ukraine’s top soldier General Oleksandr Syrskyi confirmed there were “casualties and injuries” in the Cherkaske strike.
In an apparent suggestion it was not properly prepared for any attack, Gen Syrskyi said he had suspended “the head of the unit training centre and the commander of the military unit” using the base.
It is believed they ignored standing orders to not hold large outdoor gatherings.
He added: “I extend my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the fallen defenders of Ukraine.
“The Russian aggressor will pay a heavy price for this crime.”
The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces General Mykhailo Drapatiy has ordered a probe.
He said: “I am personally monitoring every step to reconstruct the events second by second. Because I feel the pain. Because the anger is consuming me from within.”
