The head of the training centre and the commander of a military unit have been suspended from duty for the duration of the investigation into the tragedy at the training ground of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk Region.
This was stated by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyy.
‘In the middle of the day, on 1 March, the enemy attacked one of the military units on the territory of the training ground of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk Region. As a result of the strike of an Iskander-M ballistic missile with a cluster munition, there are dead and wounded,’ the statement said.
The Commander-in-Chief emphasises that a comprehensive commission headed by the Chief of the Main Directorate of the Military Law Enforcement Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is working at the scene to establish all the circumstances and causes of the tragedy.
‘For the duration of the investigation, the head of the unit training centre and the commander of the military unit have been suspended from duty,’ Syrskyy wrote.
He also instructed the commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to organise an inspection of compliance with the requirements of the orders of the General Staff and the General Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the timely warning of missile threats, the prohibition (restriction) of deploying personnel and holding meetings and gatherings in the open, as well as deploying them in places not intended for this purpose.
The Commander-in-Chief instructed them to clarify the status of the previously set tasks to conduct training outside the training centres, if possible in buried, engineered structures that provide reliable protection for personnel, as well as the engineering work on their equipment.
‘I express my sincere condolences to the families and friends of the fallen defenders of Ukraine. The Russian aggressor will pay dearly for its crime,’ added Oleksandr Syrskyy.
Russian strike on a training ground in Dnipropetrovsk Region
- Today, Army Commander Mykhaylo Drapatyy acknowledged an enemy strike on a training ground. He did not name the location of the strike, but expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and their comrades-in-arms. According to Drapatyy, the investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy is ongoing. He assured that he was personally following every step to find out the circumstances.
- The State Bureau of Investigation has opened a criminal investigation into the deaths and injuries of Ukrainian servicemen as a result of a Russian missile strike on a training ground in the Dnipropetrovsk Region.
- According to journalist Yuriy Butusov, the enemy attacked a training ground in Cherkaske, Dnipropetrovsk Region. According to his information, about 30 soldiers were killed and about 100 others were wounded. The 168th reserve battalion, which largely consisted of soldiers who had returned from the AWOL, was stationed at this training ground.
- According to volunteer Serhiy Sternenko, the enemy used a drone to adjust the missile strike. The training ground is located more than 100 kilometres from the contact line.