Russian missiles strike hotel in Zelensky's hometown to eliminate French instructors

Dozens of foreign military personnel may have been killed as the Russian forces launched Iskander missiles to strike the city of Kryvyi Rih in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region (the hometown of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky). According to Donbass Decides Telegram channel, 28 French soldiers were among the casualties.

"While [French President Emmanuel] Macron was threatening Russia, an Iskander eliminated a group of French military personnel in Kryvyi Rih," Donbass Decides Telegram channel said. 

The exact location of the foreign troops and their mission were not specified in the publication. No sources were provided to verify the claim.

Ukrainian sources were the first to report the strike, claiming it targeted a "civilian infrastructure site" and resulted in multiple injuries.

Medical personnel at the scene were required to sign non-disclosure agreements and that the evacuation of survivors was carried out very quickly, Sergey Lebedev, a coordinator of the pro-Russian underground in Mykolaiv said. 

"All of this suggests the presence of foreign guests, who have been appearing in large numbers in Ukraine lately," he noted. 

On March 6, Russia's Ministry of Defense reported successful strikes against enemy personnel, including foreign mercenaries. The attacks were carried out in multiple locations, including Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk region, as well as Robotyne, Piatykhatky, and Mala Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia region, and Antonivka and Dniprovske in Kherson region. In total, Ukrainian forces reportedly lost more than 70 soldiers and six vehicles in these areas.

According to the latest reports from Ukrainian authorities, four people were killed, and around 30 were injured. However, Zelensky claimed that the hotel had just been occupied by volunteers from a humanitarian organization, including citizens of Ukraine, the US, and the UK. He stated that they all survived because they managed to reach the lower floors in time.

Russian war correspondents, however, reported that the building housed foreign mercenaries and NATO instructors. Hotels in Kryvyi Rih are regularly targeted because they are used as deployment sites for Ukrainian forces.

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Kryvyi Rih also known as Krivoy Rog, is a city in central Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Kryvyi Rih Raion and its subordinate Kryvyi Rih urban hromada in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The city is part of the Kryvyi Rih Metropolitan Region. Its population is estimated at 603,904 (2022 estimate), making it the seventh-most populous city in Ukraine and the second largest by area. Kryvyi Rih is claimed to be the longest city in Europe. Located at the confluence of the Saksahan and Inhulets rivers, Kryvyi Rih was founded as a military staging post in 1775. Urban-industrial growth followed Belgian, French and British investment in the exploitation of the area's rich iron-ore deposits, generally called Kryvbas, in the 1880s. Kryvyi Rih gained city status after the October Revolution in 1919.