Russian Iskander Cluster Strike Results In Mass Casualties At Ukrainian Base

Over the weekend we featured a headline entitled Ukraine Lost More Villages On The Battlefield During The Zelensky-Trump Showdown In The Oval. Ukraine’s battlefield losses and woes have continued into Monday.

Ukraine officials have acknowledged that a mass casualty event took place in its territory some 80 miles from the front line after a Russian airstrike hit a military training ground. Russian sources are claiming that some foreigners were also killed.

The attack was first officially verified on Monday but it happened Saturday, involving a Russian ballistic missile strike on ”an army training ground near the village of Cherkaske” outside the city of Dnipro, APF reports based on a military source.

“The enemy used an Iskander-M Ballistic missile with a cluster munition,” the military source said, adding that “elements of destruction were scattered over a large area.” Cluster bomblets typically fall over a very large area.

While no official casualty figures have been issued by the government, the AFP cites a well-known Ukrainian military blogger, Yury Butusov, who described that “between 30 and 40 soldiers were killed and around 90 more were injured.”

Immense controversy and some early-finger pointing has ensued in the wake of the tragedy, as Ukrainian military bases have been warned about avoiding large gatherings of troop formations out in the open or at set times of the day.

The AFP report includes details of some of the initial fallout and reaction:

Ukrainian lawmaker Mariana Bezugla said on Facebook that the strike happened when soldiers were lined up in formation, accusing commanders of “stupidity” and an “inability to adapt to new realities”.

A military source told AFP there was “no lining up or gathering of people”, adding that “elements of destruction were scattered over a large area”.

There have been several similar attacks during the three-year war including a strike on a military institute in Poltava in September last year in which some 60 people were killed. Drapaty said there were “unlearnt lessons”.

“Anger is eating away at me from the inside,” he said, pointing the finger at some military officials “who continue to negligently” fulfil their duties.

Still the precise circumstances remain unclear, only that a ballistic missile with a cluster munition unleashed a wide area of destruction and death. Also, it happened during the middle of the day amid training exercises at the base.

Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation announced Monday that it is opening criminal proceedings into the “death and injury of Ukrainian servicemen as a result of a Russian missile strike on a training ground in the Dnipropetrovsk region.”

Today, the Russian ballistic missile Iskander struck the military training field Cherkasske near city of Novomoskovsk, Ukraine, located in 120-130 km from the frontline.
According to the Commander of the Ukrainian Land Forces general Mykhailo Drapatiy and other news media, the… pic.twitter.com/gd1S4pnzzx

— Viktor Kovalenko (@MrKovalenko) March 3, 2025

Over the past several days international media has tended to focus on the diplomacy and verbal provocations surrounding efforts to end the war, and especially the Trump-Zelensky clash at the White House – even as Russia and Ukraine continue to exchange heavy missile and drone strikes. Ukraine has meanwhile lost several villages along the front line in Donetsk in the last weeks.