KYIVA In the most recent attack to humiliate military leaders as they attempt to make amends, a Russian missile struck a Ukrainian army training area, killing three troops and injuring eighteen others, according to authorities.
About 200 Ukrainian troops were killed or injured in the strike, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The ministry reported that two Iskander missiles, one equipped with numerous submunitions and the other with high explosives, struck Ukraine’s 169th training center in the Chernihiv region, close to Honcharivske.
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Ukraine’s air force reported Wednesday that Russia launched 78 attack drones overnight, including up to eight recently designed jet-powered drones, as part of its increased aerial campaign against civilian targets in Ukraine. There were at least five injuries.
Casualties among civilians
According to the U.N. mission in Ukraine, Russian strikes have increased this year, killing or injuring 6,754 people in the first half of 2025—a 54% increase compared to the same period in 2024.
The U.N. reports that at least 13,580 Ukrainian civilians, including 716 children, have been murdered since Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
In an attempt to halt that, U.S. President Donald Trump declared on Tuesday that Washington will apply harsh sanctions and tariffs unless Russian President Vladimir Putin makes progress. Putin has been accused by Western leaders of being slow to act in an effort to seize additional Ukrainian territory.
Investigations are ongoing into recent attacks.
Although the Russian Defense Ministry has reported some recent minor advances at several locations along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, Ukrainian soldiers are primarily clinging to Russia’s larger army.
Although Ukrainian ground troops admitted that a Russian strike had struck a military training area in the northern Ukrainian region of Chernihiv, their claim of casualties was very different from Moscow’s.
A video from the Russian Defense Ministry showed several tiny explosions that appeared to have been caused by a missile with a shrapnel warhead, followed by a large explosion that appeared to have been caused by the other missile, which was armed with a high-explosive warhead.
More than 50 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a similar Russian strike that hit two hospitals in the area in September.
According to Ukrainian officials, a committee headed by the head of the Military Law Enforcement Service has been established to ascertain if official malfeasance or carelessness played a role in the deaths in Chernihiv.
The assault was the fourth fatal attack on Ukrainian military installations in as many months. Official accounts state that at least 46 soldiers were killed and over 160 were wounded in the three prior strikes.
Ukraine desperately needs more soldiers.
More army losses are unaffordable for Ukraine. Even though the National Guard and other units have more than a million Ukrainians in uniform, it desperately needs more.
Deeply ingrained issues, including as a poor mobilization campaign and the overstretching and hollowing out of front-line troops, have plagued Ukraine and raised concerns about Kyiv’s war management.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a bill allowing Ukrainian males over 60 to willingly accept military contracts. The new rule permits anyone who wishes to offer their expertise and abilities, especially in specialized or noncombat jobs.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry started making offers in February in an effort to get men in the 18–24 age range to enlist in the military. The country’s draft, which applies to men between 25 to 60, does not apply to men in that age range.
Ukraine reduced the age of conscription from 27 to 25, but this hasn’t helped to replace war casualties or re-establish ranks.
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