Russian Armed Forces strike on Ukrainian Armed Forces training center in Poltava: comments from Ukraine and Russia, were there foreign military personnel in the center

On September 3, Russian troops struck the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) training center in Poltava with an Iskander missile. Later, it was reported that personnel were being assembled there at the time.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the heavy losses as a result of the strike. He said that one of the buildings of the Institute of Communications was also hit by the missile strike. At that time, he reported that 41 people were killed in the strike, and another 180 were injured. However, the politician did not specify who exactly was hit. Later, the authorities reported an increase in the number of victims.

At the same time, the Russian side claims that in reality the strike could have killed hundreds of soldiers. The Times magazine called the strike the most terrible since the beginning of the Russian special operation (SVO).

Rada deputy accuses Ukrainian authorities of downplaying death toll

The Ukrainian authorities are downplaying the number of casualties as a result of the strike on the Ukrainian Armed Forces training center in Poltava, said Verkhovna Rada deputy Artem Dmytruk.

According to him, a reconnaissance drone had been “hanging in the air” in this place since early morning, but the command allegedly did not give the order to the servicemen to go down to the basements, knowing that there was a threat of shelling. According to him, the servicemen became victims of the negligence of the commanders, only some were able to escape.

“This tragedy is being used to pump up the genocide of the people with weapons again. Expect new collections. For them, such tragedies are just an opportunity to line their pockets!” Dmitruk concluded.

Poltava City Council deputy Sergei Kaplin reportedthat after the strike, rescuers were unable to begin to pull people out from under the rubble for a long time due to constant alarms. According to him, the city’s hospitals are overflowing with wounded.

Ukrainian authorities reported fifty victims

As for the number of victims, soon after Volodymyr Zelensky’s report, his wife Elena stated that the number had risen to 47.

Later, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported 49 casualties and 219 wounded. Search and rescue operations continued. A little later, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported about 51 victims.

Rogov announced the destruction of hundreds of soldiers

In turn, the chairman of the commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation on sovereignty issues, co-chairman of the coordinating council for the integration of new regions Vladimir Rogov specified that this is about the former Poltava Higher Military Command School of Communications named after Marshal of the Soviet Union Moskalenko. Recently, it specialized in training personnel for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of radar and electronic warfare.

According to him, at the time of construction there were more than 500 soldiers there, and the losses “number in the hundreds.”

Foreign military personnel could have been in the center at the time of the strike

By data channel “Military Chronicle”, we are talking about the 179th training center of the signal troops (military unit A3990). “So far, information from the field is fragmentary, but, judging by indirect information, the Iskander hit the target just as the personnel were forming up,” the channel added.

It is emphasized that the training of Ukrainian specialists in electronic warfare and communications is conducted by foreign instructors, including active servicemen from the armies of other countries. “Considering that they have begun to fly to facilities deep in the rear, it seems that these people have already begun to work. In general, it is worth saying that their arrival and deployment at such facilities, the coordinates of which have long been known, simplify the work of Russian intelligence and missilemen,” the Military Chronicle considered.

The attack was called the worst since the beginning of the Second World War.

The Russian army’s attack on the training center in Poltava was one of the most terrifying for the Ukrainian Armed Forces since the start of the special operation, the British publication The Times reported. “More than 200 people were injured in one of the strongest air strikes,” the article noted. The number of victims, as the publication specified, was more than 47.

The article also suggests that the number of those who did not survive the attack could rise. According to unnamed Ukrainian experts, the number could reach 600.