Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
Ukraine on Tuesday (July 12) claimed that it has destroyed an arms depot as part of a barrage of rockets and missiles on Russian military targets in the southern part of the country. Ukrainian military officials said that the strikes in the Kherson region destroyed artillery, armoured vehicles “and a warehouse with ammunition in Nova Kakhovka”.
On the other hand, the Russian authorities in the city have accused that the Ukrainian strikes damaged civilian infrastructure and left at least seven people dead.
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Vladimir Leontiev, who is the head of the city’s Moscow-backed administration, said on social media: “Warehouses were hit, as were shops, a pharmacy, petrol stations and even a church.”
In a separate announcement, the Ukrainian military intelligence said that it forces had freed five captives in a “special operation” in Kherson, including a military serviceman and former police officer. The military didn’t specify when.
Use of HIMARS to strike Russian arms depot?
The news agency Associated Press reported that the precision of the strike suggested Ukrainian forces used US-supplied multiple-launch High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, to hit the area.
Ekaterina Gubareva, who is the deputy head of the pro-Russian authorities in Kherson also said the same thing. As quoted by news agencies, Gubareva said that Ukraine had used long-range, precision artillery systems supplied by the United States in the strikes in Nova Kakhovka.
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The Ukrainian army has for several weeks been waging a counter-offensive to recapture Kherson, which was taken by Russian troops early in the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia-based Tass news agency revealed a different story. It reported that the blast in Nova Kakhovka was apparently a mineral fertiliser storage facility explosion. The report further mentioned that a market, hospital and houses were damaged in the strike. It is understood that some of the ingredients in fertiliser can be used for ammunition.
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