The Command of the Ukrainian Ground Forces confirmed the Russian attack on one of the military units on the territory of the training ground in the Dnipropetrovsk region. As a result of the Iskander-M ballistic missile strike with cluster munitions during formation, as claimed by 'Ukrainska Pravda', twenty soldiers were killed, and about a hundred were injured. Earlier, Ukrainian media reported that Ukrainian soldiers of the 157th Separate Mechanized Brigade were present at the Cherkasy training ground. Official sources did not disclose the number of military casualties.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that a comprehensive commission, headed by the chief of the main department of the Military Law Enforcement Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, is working on-site. During the investigation, the head of the unit training center and the commander of the military unit have been suspended from their duties.
'I have tasked the commanders of the branches and separate types of troops (forces) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to organize a check on the fulfillment of the orders regarding the timely notification of missile danger, the prohibition (restriction) of personnel placement and holding meetings and gatherings in open areas, as well as placement in places not intended for this,' added Syrskyi.
Russia and Ukraine have attacked each other's training grounds several times during formations, causing massive losses. In early September 2024, the Russian Armed Forces struck a gathering place of Ukrainian soldiers in the Sumy region, and in November — in the Zaporizhzhia region. In February and March of the previous year, the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck Russian military training grounds in the occupied Donetsk and Kherson regions three times.