Fact Check: What Was Real Target of Russia's Strike in Kramatorsk

Since the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022, Western mainstream media has been eager to trumpet the Kiev regime’s falsehoods, such as accusing Russia of deliberately striking civilian targets. Tuesday’s events in the city of Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), are another case in point.

A point of temporary deployment of the commanders of Ukraine's 56th Motorized Infantry Brigade in Kramatorsk was hit on June 27, Russia's Defense Ministry has reported.

"According to updated information, as a result of a high-precision strike at the point of temporary deployment of the 56th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk People's Republic on June 27 of this year, two generals, up to 50 officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as up to 20 foreign mercenaries and military advisers participating in a staff meeting were destroyed," the ministry said in a statement.

Shortly after the strike, Western mainstream media latched on to Kiev’s hysterically-peddled claims that Russia’s military had hit civilian infrastructure in the city of Kramatorsk. Media outlets blatantly refused to accept any alternative explanation of the course of events on June 27.

Russia does not attack civilian infrastructure, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Wednesday. Strikes carried out by Russia's Armed Forces “target only objects that are connected to military infrastructure in some way," Peskov asserted.

This is what Sputnik’s independent research has discovered about Tuesday’s developments.

Top Ukrainian Officers & Foreign Mercs

Since the Tuesday events, footage has surfaced on the Internet appearing to show the aftermath of the Kramatorsk strike. A voice in one of the videos, believed to have been posted by a mercenary using the call sign "Peter," can be heard saying that there are "there's soldiers under this rubble."

Presumably, Ukrainian military and foreign mercenaries were injured during the strike, with the aforementioned "Peter" claiming that he had been summoned by an acquaintance to help sort through the rubble as part of the rescue effort.

For example, among those who did not survive the missile strike was reportedly a 22-year-old member of the Azov* Battalion, Artyom Sukhovey.

© Sputnik

Another mercenary is also purportedly pictured in the scenes from Kramatorsk making the rounds online after the strike. An American, Nick Duckworth, judging by the footage, managed to survive the strike. Several other foreign mercenaries whose presence was ostensibly caught on camera at the site in Kramatorsk were Alex Gallant and Arno Dedecker. None of them had previously made any pretense about fighting within the ranks of the Ukrainian military on social media.

Footage allegedly taken shortly after the missile strike appeared to show a large number of people in military uniform, with Ukrainian Armed Forces insignia visible on equipment, and English heard spoken.

In one of the videos, a tattoo of a wounded man is clearly visible, indicating that he belonged to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment of the US Armed Forces. One could speculate that he was there acting in the capacity of either an instructor or a mercenary. Visible in another video is a man in a uniform bearing the emblem of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) of the United States Army, nicknamed the “Screaming Eagles.”

Various Telegram channels claim that not only the leadership of Ukraine’s 56th Motorized Infantry Brigade, but also other high-level commanders of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were the target of a strike by Russia on June 27. The "War on Fakes" channel asserted that Russia’s Armed Forces targeted the location of Ukrainian foreign mercenaries allegedly staying at a hotel in Kramatorsk and dining at the eatery in question. The guest house was closed for civilians at the time of the event, judging by booking services cited in reports.

*The Azov battalion is an extremist organization banned in Russia.