A Russian ballistic missile attack on northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region killed dozens of Western military instructors, state media reported on Tuesday, citing Russia’s Defense Ministry.
“[An] Iskander-M missile defense system launched an attack on the temporary deployment point of instructors and mercenaries from Western countries in the locality of Derhachi, Kharkiv region,” the state-run TASS news agency quoted an unnamed defense ministry source as saying.
The city of Derhaci is located around 12 kilometers northwest of the Kharkiv region’s capital city.
“As a result of the strike, about 50 foreign instructors were killed,” the source added, without specifying when the attack took place. No other details were provided.
It was not immediately possible to verify the claim and there was no immediate comment from Ukrainian authorities about the reported attack.
In March, Moscow claimed its forces had killed nearly 6,000 foreign volunteers fighting on the side of Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Shortly after Russia launched the invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the creation of an international territorial defense legion consisting of foreigners fighting on behalf of Kyiv.
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