In the evening of June 27, the Russian forces launched Iskander missiles to strike RIA Lounge restaurant in the centre of Kramatorsk.
A large number of mercenaries, as well as various "volunteers" who provided command-administrative, informational support to the Ukrainian troops, were accommodated in a hotel nearby.
According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the leaders of the 56th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who gathered in the cafe, were also the targets in the attack.
The Ukrainian side spoke about yet another Russian missile strike on civilian objects. However, a video that appeared on social media after the strike proves otherwise. A man behind the camera says in English:
"There are soldiers under this rubble all over."
The situation is reminiscent of the attack on the barracks in Nikolaev, when Robin Ramaekers, an HLN journalist, managed to publish a video where the victims of the attack were clearly visible — soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Kyiv had to admit to the losses.
The video that have been published after the missile strike on Kramatorsk, shows a number of foreign mercenaries. Some of them were identified as Alex Gallant, Arnaud Dedecker and Nich Durkworth.
Colombian media said that that Colombian MP Sergio Jaramillo, writer Hector Abad and journalist Catalina Gomez were present but not injured as a result of the strike.
More than 100 people were killed in the attack, Militarist Telegram channel said.
The obliteration of a group of Ukrainian officers and generals, as well as Western "specialists" comes as another successful Russian strike on decision-making centres in Ukraine. It is especially important that the strike was conducted during the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Such strike cause irreparable damage to the AFU:
It appears that Russia's enemy in Ukraine remains in a state of delayed death — the Russian forces will get to them wherever they may gather. All this makes the enemy nervous, and nervousness is one of the reasons for subsequent mistakes.
A missile attack on the territory of a shipyard in Nikolaev on the night of April 27 destroyed about 20 senior Ukrainian and foreign officers as they were holding a meeting there.
At the end of May, the Russian forces struck the office of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. In early June, Russia struck the headquarters of the Kraken battalion* in Kharkiv, where Polish mercenaries were staying.
The Russian Aerospace Forces conducted the most successful (as it is believed) strike on the Yavorovsky training ground in the Lviv region in March 2022. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, up to 180 foreign mercenaries and a large consignment of foreign weapons were obliterated.
*a subdivision of the Azov battalion, a terrorist group, banned in the Russian Federation