Photo by UKRAINIAN MILITANT
September 3, 2024
Updated 7 hours ago
Russian forces launched a missile attack on Tuesday on a Ukrainian Armed Forces training center in Poltava, killing 51 people and wounding more than 270, according to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office. The attack was carried out with two ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said.
“The area of the educational institution and the neighboring hospital was hit. One of the buildings of the Institute of Communications was partially destroyed. People were under the rubble. Many were rescued. More than 180 people were injured. Unfortunately, many were killed,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in the afternoon (quoted from his Telegram channel).
The Russian military has not commented on the reports of the strike, and the BBC cannot independently confirm the casualty figures. Russian pro-war bloggers are writing about the strike on Poltava and the dozens of casualties.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry reports that Russian military used two ballistic missiles.
“The time interval between the alarm and the arrival of the deadly missiles was so short that it caught people just as they were evacuating to a bomb shelter,” the ministry said in an official statement.
One of the buildings of the Institute of Communication was partially destroyed, writes “Suspilne”.
Russian pro-war Telegram channels claim that the strike hit the 179th training center of the signal troops.
The 179th training center for communications troops is located on the territory of the disbanded Poltava Higher Military Command School of Communications, writes the BBC Ukrainian Service.
“I have ordered a full and prompt investigation into all the circumstances of what happened,” Zelensky said.
Many people were trapped under the rubble, rescuers and doctors managed to save 25 people, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported.
Rescue operations continue.
There is a residential area near the place where the missiles hit.
“The blast wave knocked out the windows in multi-story buildings and damaged the facades,” Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klimenko wrote on his Telegram channel. “About a hundred reports of damaged property have already been recorded.”
CNN and AP note that this is one of the deadliest single attacks by Russian troops since the war began. Three days of mourning have been declared in the Poltava region.
How the impact occurred
At about 09:10, local residents heard the sounds of two explosions in the city, Suspilne Poltava reports. Before that, the Ukrainian Air Force Telegram channel reported a missile moving in the direction of Poltava.
As BBC analyst Chris Partridge notes, the attack on Poltava probably involved Iskander-M systems, which have a stated firing range of up to 500 km. During the night, the Ukrainian military reported launching Iskanders from Crimea.
The missile carries a cluster or high-explosive warhead weighing up to 700 kg, has a strike accuracy of 10 to 30 meters and is capable of causing significant destruction, Partridge writes.
Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security and Defense Maryana Bezugla was the first to hint on Facebook that something bad had happened in Poltava. She also mentioned the attack on Ukrainian troops gathered for formation in Zarechnoye in November 2023, which, according to her, did not teach the command anything.
Military journalist Yuriy Butusov also linked the numerous casualties to the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces commanders.
“It is not surprising that mass gatherings continue. There is no accountability, no analysis, and the mistakes for which the authorities do not learn lessons continue and the number of victims increases,” the journalist believes.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense later stated that at the time of the strike, the institute was undergoing training and there were no military personnel in formation.
The Ukrainian ground forces reported that the security of personnel at military facilities will be strengthened after the attack on Poltava.
