Russian strike soldiers were hit during a ceremony, Ukrainian officials say

Russian missiles struck a group of Ukrainian soldiers at an awards ceremony in southern Ukraine, killing some and wounding others, two senior Ukrainian military officials said on Sunday.

One of the military officials, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to release information, said two rockets struck in succession Friday morning as soldiers from the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade gathered in the village of Zarichne, near the front line in the Zaporizhia region. The soldiers were there to mark Artillery Day, one of a series of days marked in Ukraine to honor branches of the military.

It was not possible to independently confirm the number of casualties or the nature of the strike.

In a statement on Facebook late Saturday, the Ukrainian military said Russia had launched “creeping attacks” on 26 settlements in Zaporizhia and attacked the personnel of the 128th brigade with a missile, “resulting in the deaths of service members and varying degrees of injuries among local residents. .” No further details were given.

Viktor Mykyta, the head of the military administration in Zakarpattia, a western region where many of the brigade’s members came from, confirmed the strike and the deaths and called for three days of mourning. “I recommend visiting the churches and praying for our defenders,” he said on the messaging app Telegram.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that its forces had been active in the Zaporizhia region, but did not directly refer to an attack in Zarichne.

Ukraine and Russia have suffered significant losses in the fighting since Ukraine launched a counter-offensive in June to regain territory in the south and east. Both sides describe enemy losses in daily reports, but it is highly unusual for both sides to reveal their own casualties.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Facebook late Saturday that he had ordered an investigation into the attack on Zarichne, adding: “Our enemy is a treacherous terrorist.”

It is unclear why Ukrainian authorities have decided to speak publicly about the attack, but it follows an admission by the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Valery Zaluzhny, that his forces were in a standoff with Russia along the front line and that there was no immediate prospect of a breakthrough.

The comments in an interview published this week in the British magazine The Economist were extraordinarily candid.

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office on Saturday criticized General Zaluzhny for his comments. Although the commander has not commented publicly, the two comments suggest a possible rift at the top of Ukraine’s civilian and military leadership at a difficult time for the country’s war effort.

The lack of a decisive victory on the battlefield, coupled with military losses like Friday’s, presents the Ukrainian government with a strategic test, especially at a time when some Republicans in Congress have argued that the United States should stop sending of military aid.

In a speech on Saturday, Mr. Zelensky did not refer to the 128th Brigade, although he did thank “all those who have dedicated their lives to ensuring Ukraine’s endurance.”