Ukraine likely took out over 70 Russians in a precision strike 14 miles behind the front line, UK intel says

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Ukrainian forces likely took out more than 70 Russian soldiers in a precision strike about 14 miles behind the front lines, the UK Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update on Friday.

The attack targeted a convoy of trucks in the village of Hladkivka in the Kherson region on November 10, per the update.

The MOD also reported that tens of Russian servicemen were likely killed or injured in a subsequent attack on November 19 when a strike hit troops holding an award ceremony or a concert in Kumachove, Donetsk, 37 miles from the battle lines.

It’s just the latest report of “mass casualties” inflicted on Russian troops by Ukrainian long-range precision strikes since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. An estimated 120,000 Russian troops and 70,000 Ukrainian troops have died since February 2022, US officials told The New York Times in August.

The MOD reported in October that Russia has likely suffered up to 290,000 killed or wounded soldiers since the start of the war.

However, Ukrainian troops have also fallen victim to Russia’s long-range weapons.

During an outdoor medal ceremony on November 3, 19 troops from Ukraine’s 128th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade were killed by a Russian ballistic missile in the southern Zaporizhzhia oblast, the MOD said.

Two Russian missile strikes hit the Ukrainian troops in succession, an unnamed military official told The New York Times at the time.

The incident drew the ire of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who accused commanders of “negligence” in a video published on social media X on November 5.

The State Bureau of Investigation has since launched a probe into the incident to hold the commanders involved accountable, as Business Insider previously reported.

This was one of the deadliest assaults that Ukraine had documented since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion last year, the Associated Press reported at the time.

While deployed soldiers usually have a good understanding of the weaponry ranges of their enemies, commanders face an “acute dilemma,” the MOD reported.

“They must balance the best practice of keeping the troops dispersed and less vulnerable to strikes and the day-to-day requirement to gather units together to conduct administration and to maintain morale,” it said.

One of the latest victims of Ukraine’s long-range attacks was Russian actress Polina Menshikh.

She died in the village of Kumachove, located about 37 miles from the front lines, last Sunday when Ukrainian shelling struck the dance hall where she was performing, per the BBC.