Russian strikes on a shipbuilding plant in the Ukrainian port of Nikolaev killed as many as 500 troops on Tuesday, the Russian defense ministry claimed during a daily press briefing on Wednesday.
The troops belonged to the Ukrainian Army’s 59th Mechanized Brigade, the report said, who it’s believed were taking cover at the Okean Shipyard. The facility is located in the southern part of the Ukrainian city that stands on a major river some 60 kilometers inland from the Black Sea.
The ministry said the Russian Air Force had used precision weapons to strike the plant’s workshops, killing Ukrainian service members and destroying arms and military vehicles.
Ukrainian sources reported several Russian cruise-missile strikes targeting Nikolaev on Tuesday. These caused damage to port infrastructure, to industrial buildings and to the power grid, and destroyed some trucks, the Ukrainian military said.