Russian missile attack on Ukraine base kills 3 soldiers
Russia claims to have killed or wounded around 200 Ukrainian troops in the missile attack
A Russian missile hit a Ukrainian army training ground, killing three soldiers and wounding 18 others, authorities said, in the latest attack to embarrass military officials as they struggle to make up a severe manpower shortage in the nearly 3½-year war.
The Russian Defence Ministry said that the strike killed or wounded about 200 Ukrainian troops. The ministry said that Ukraine’s 169th training centre near Honcharivske in the Chernihiv region was hit with two Iskander missiles, one armed with multiple submunitions and another with high explosives.
Meanwhile, Russia continued its stepped-up aerial campaign against Ukrainian civilian targets, launching 78 attack drones overnight, including up to eight newly developed jet-powered drones, Ukraine’s air force said on Wednesday. At least five people were wounded.
Civilian casualties
The UN mission in Ukraine says there has been a worsening trend in civilian casualties from Russian attacks this year, with 6,754 civilians killed or injured in the first half of 2025 – representing a 54 per cent increase from the same period in 2024.
Since Russia launched an all-out invasion of neighbouring Ukraine on February 24, 2022, at least 13,580 Ukrainian civilians, including 716 children, have been killed, according to the UN.
In an effort to stop that, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was giving Russian President Vladimir Putin until August 8 for peace efforts to make progress, or Washington would impose punitive sanctions and tariffs. Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in US-led peace efforts in an attempt to capture more Ukrainian land.
Recent attacks under investigation
Ukrainian forces are mostly hanging on against a grinding summer push by Russia’s bigger army, though the Russian Defence Ministry has claimed some recent small advances at places along the 1,000km (620-mile) front line.