Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content More than two dozen Russian soldiers were killed during an awards ceremony after a surprise attack in eastern Ukraine over the weekend The strike occurred while members of the 810th Marine Brigade were being honored at a ceremony near Starobesheve a town in the Donbas region that is currently occupied by Russia According to a post to Telegram by Nexta a pro-Ukrainian news outlet based in eastern Europe at least 25 Russian soldiers attending the ceremony were killed No Russian troops were injured in the incident Ukrainian military commander Colonel Robert "Magyar" Brovdi also confirmed in a post to Telegram that the attack against the Russian brigade had killed members of the command staff He said that the strike was "revenge" for members of the Ukrainian 128th Separate Mountain Infantry Brigade who were killed during a ceremony in the southern Zapohrizhia region after a Russian missile attack earlier this month According to a report by Al Jazeera at least 20 Ukrainian troops were killed in the attack on November 5 and Zelensky said that it was "a tragedy that could have been avoided." Further reports of an attack near Starobesheve on Sunday were also confirmed by the theater where the awards ceremony took place which said in a post to the Russian social media platform VK on Monday that Polina Menshikh died during a performance in the Donbas region Sunday due to shelling in the area Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the strike and Moscow officials have yet to acknowledge it Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry and Ukraine's Defense Ministry via email for more information Kyiv officials also reported in August that two Russian officers were killed and 15 other servicemembers hospitalized in a mass poisoning at a military celebration in Mariupol which was reportedly carried out by Ukrainian partisans Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all About 800 million euros ($905 million) will be allocated for the acquisition and installation of anti-tank mines to deter potential aggression  (Updated:  May 6, 2025 9:37 am)Ukraine's drones target Moscow second night in a row, Russian official claims, ahead of Victory Day parade. Debris from one of the drones reportedly fell on the Kashirskoye Highway The reported attack comes just days before Russia's Victory Day parade and three-day "truce."  (Updated:  May 6, 2025 9:36 am)War analysisFrance is sending Ukraine more AASM Hammer bombs — here's what they can do Polish President Andrzej Duda said the United States has tools that can effectively influence the Kremlin arguing that only President Donald Trump has real leverage over Russian President Vladimir Putin The number includes 1,430 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day "To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement" by Benjamin Nathans which covers dissent in the Soviet Union and Russia today Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on May 5 announced they had facilitated Russian journalist Ekaterina Barabash's escape from Russia to France after she fled house arrest on April 21 A Russian drone attack on Odesa Oblast on May 5 killed one and caused damage to local infrastructure "We appreciate that Germany plays a pivotal role in supporting Ukraine throughout the years of war Ukraine is also grateful for your personal commitment," President Volodymyr Zelensky said MPs will be able to ask questions and learn more about the details of the agreement in meetings with Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko May 6-7 MP Serhii Sobolev told the news outlet Suspilne The ratification vote is scheduled for May 8 Attacks against the border villages of Bilopillia and Vorozhba damaged civilian infrastructure and triggered emergency evacuations the regional military administration reported "I look forward to working with President Erdogan on getting the ridiculous war between Russia and Ukraine ended — now!" U.S Putin's Victory Day truce "doesn't sound like much if you know where we started from," Trump told reporters at the White House on May 5 The unit confirmed the strike on the marines and said the number of casualties had been reported by Russian propagandists Robert “Magyar” Brovdi, a commander at Ukraine's 59th Brigade, reported on Nov 21 that 25 Russian marines had been killed and more than 100 had been injured Members of Russia's 810th Marine Brigade were attending the awards ceremony near Starobesheve on the occasion of Russia's Missile Forces and Artillery Day which also had entertainment provided by Russian actress Polina Menshikh when the attack allegedly occurred The Russian state media outlet Rossiyskaya Gazeta corroborated that Menshikh was performing for the soldiers near Starobesheve Ukraine's Ground Forces posted a video on Nov 21 that appeared to show Menshikh performing The Russian state news agency TASS confirmed Menshikh's death on Nov saying that Ukrainian forces had fired on the village of Kumachove in Donetsk Oblast with a variety of weapons Kumachove is located about 25 kilometers from Starobesheve It did not comment on the other alleged casualties Brovdi said that the strike was "payback" for the Russian missile attack on Ukraine's 128th Mountain Assault Brigade during an awards ceremony in early November that killed 19 soldiers Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said the strike on the 128th Brigade was the result of basic security measures being ignored, adding that it likely could have been avoided. An investigation into the incident and the potential negligent behavior of the organizers of the award ceremony, as well as anyone else who may have been involved, is ongoing, Umerov said. Little respite in fighting as Ukraine, Russia mark Orthodox Christmas Refugees celebrate first Christmas since fleeing Ukraine 40 km (25 miles) southeast of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk a defeat so demoralizing that days later Kiev agreed a ceasefire with pro-Russian separatists.But among the debris Reuters found the blackened carcasses of what military experts have since identified as two Russian army tanks supporting statements by Kiev and the West that the rebels were backed by troops and equipment sent by Moscow.Moscow denies the accusations though the rebels had been on the brink of defeat until late August when the Ukrainian government says they received an injection of soldiers and weapons from Russia.Reuters showed photographs of the two badly damaged tanks who said they were of a type used exclusively by the Russian army.At least one was a T-72BM - a Russian-made modification of a well known Soviet tank is not known to have been exported."It is operated by the Russian Army in large numbers but crucially it is not known to have been exported or operated outside of Russia," Joseph Dempsey a military analyst for the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies a T-72B1.More conclusive recognition is difficult because of the extent of the damage.The Soviet-made T-72B1 is not believed to be in active service in Ukraine making it almost impossible that the separatists captured it in battle.Ukraine's Security Council which groups the country's top political said in June the separatists were using T-72 tanks that could not have been captured from the Ukrainian army.FIERCE BATTLESKiev also said in late August that Russian forces had entered Ukraine and occupied Starobeshevo 5 km (three miles) from Horbatenko.The Ukrainian Defense Ministry did not respond to a request by Reuters for more details of the decisive battles that followed soon afterwards but Ukrainian soldiers caught in the battles say they were quickly overcome.Alexei Koshelenko said: "We were hit by (multiple rocket launcher) Grads and after that the troops just swept us away We were completely defeated within 20 minutes others are missing.""They were Russians," he said after being released with other prisoners of war Referring to a city 300 km (200 miles) northeast of Moscow he said: "They said they were an airborne assault battalion from Kostroma."The accounts of residents of Horbatenko a village of a few dozen inhabitants which overlooks the fields that became the battlefield also challenge Russia's denials of direct intervention.Valentina Ivanovna said she was slightly wounded by shrapnel when fighting became fierce in late August."We saw an armored convoy coming down here," she said "They had white circles on the armor and white flags but whose troops they were we don’t know."Neither the rebels nor the Ukrainian forces have white circles as their permanent recognized emblem who gave her name only as Nina for fear of retribution said she had been told the meaning of the white circles in conversations with passing soldiers who identified themselves as Russian."One of them told me: white circles mean this is Russians," she said "He came to the last house for some water to drink and I asked how you can tell the difference between a Ukrainian or Russian there are white circles on the tanks."The two damaged tanks were too badly burned to have any recognizable insignia but a destroyed Soviet-made BMP-2 armored personnel carrier a few hundred meters away also bore a white circle on its broken turret.Residents of areas on the Ukrainian side of the border with Russia also reported seeing armored convoys marked by white circles on Aug 26.Two days later Reuters spotted an armored convoy with the same insignia on the Russian side of the border.UKRAINIAN ACCUSATIONSAt the end of August Ukraine accused Russian troops of crossing the border it released videotaped interviews with Russian paratroopers captured by Ukrainian forces in a village 15 km (nine miles) from Horbatenko They said they served in the 98th division based in the town of Ivanovo in central Russia.Russian President Vladimir Putin said he believed they had lost their way and crossed the unmarked segment of the border unintentionally it further supports Russian involvement," the International Institute for Strategic Studies told Reuters.Trenches near the tanks also provided what appeared to be more evidence of foreign troops - numerous empty boxes of ready-to-eat meals that are used by the Russian army Each box contains meals for one day.A Reuters reporter counted 124 packages of field rations with "not for sale" labels and notes that they were produced for the Russian Defense Ministry.A spokeswoman for Voentorg the company in Russia that produces such meals for the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed they cannot be sold.About 50 empty bottles of mineral water around the tanks bore labels identifying them as being produced in Russia's Ivanovo province the region where the division of the Russian paratroopers captured in August is based.Although Moscow has denied any direct involvement in the conflict graves have been found in Russia with the remains of Russian servicemen who relatives friends and human rights activists say were killed in Ukraine.Moscow and the rebels have said that any acting servicemen from Russia were volunteers Asked about the presence of Russian arms and field rations in Ukraine a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said: "We have the answer and it has been given multiple times."Ukraine's Defense Ministry did not reply to a request from Reuters about the losses near Starobeshevo.Additional reporting by Peter Apps in Washington and Christian Lowe in Warsaw; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Giles Elgood Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved 2014Ukrainian loyalist fighters from the Azov Battalion stand guard on a hill on the outskirts of Mariupol on August 30 Pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine warned on Saturday that they will launch a fresh offensive against government troops AFP PHOTO/ FRANCISCO LEONG (Photo credit should read FRANCISCO LEONG/AFP/Getty Images)STAROBESHEVE Ukraine – As the survivor of a tank attack on a Ukrainian army truck was being carried into an ambulance he was showered with verbal abuse by a rebel fighter "Why didn't you say before that you were alive the Ukrainian soldier drew his last breath Ukrainian soldiers loaded the bodies of six other dead comrades onto trucks outside the village of Starobesheve other rebels made wisecracks and boasted about dealing another punishing blow to Ukrainian forces the Russian-backed separatists are brimming with confidence following a string of seemingly effortless victories Ukraine announced it was abandoning Ilovaisk a city 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Starobesheve they sustained fire so intense that the government was compelled to plead for a corridor out "We are surrendering this city," said Ukrainian Col a spokesman for the national security council "Our task now is to evacuate our military with the least possible losses in order to regroup." Lysenko said that regular units of the military had also been ordered to retreat from Novosvitlivka and Khryashchuvate two towns on the main road between the Russian border and Luhansk Ukraine had claimed control of Novosvitlivka earlier in August Ukrainian government forces are now facing the prospect of an onslaught from yet another front along the coast of the southeastern Azov Sea Ukraine and numerous Western governments have said they believe rebels have been amply supplied with powerful Russian weaponry and that regular Russian troops are engaged in combat NATO estimates that at least 1,000 Russian soldiers are in Ukraine even though Russia heatedly denies any involvement in fighting that has so far claimed at least 2,600 lives Preparations for the evacuation from Ilovaisk were spotted by AP reporters Saturday morning in the village of Mykolaivka where 20 flatbed trucks were parked in line primed to go and collect stranded Ukrainian troops Anxious Mykolaivka residents reported hearing blasts of artillery Friday and the convoy made painstaking progress throughout the day to avoid rebel ambushes After more than an hour's travel through tortuous country roads the convoy reached the countryside outside Starobesheve and joined up with about 15 government ambulances readied to collect the wounded a green army truck drove in from the opposite direction packed with weary and evidently traumatized soldiers they said rebels reneged on promises to provide a safe corridor out of Ilovaisk and opened fire on departing Ukrainians troops Although palpably frustrated with what they see as fatally indecisive leadership from the authorities rank-and-file troops are reluctant to go on the record with their complaints for fear of reprisals But their rage Saturday was mainly reserved for their opponents "We came from Ilovaisk bearing white flags," said one soldier who declined to give his name and had his face covered with a mask While none could offer a specific estimate of how many had died they said the deaths may have numbered in the dozens who was accompanying the evacuation operation said the attack on departing soldiers constituted a violation of international conventions The surrounding area has been scene of skirmishes and shelling attacks over the past week the dozens of rebels milling around the otherwise deserted rural settlement were jubilant Saturday over having trapped a column of Ukrainian tanks and armored personnel carriers after a brief battle that morning some fighters shared jokes and battle stories while one showed off pictures taken on his phone of insignia from troops in the trapped Ukrainian battalions three rebel tanks raced up to the local police station which now operates at the local rebel headquarters only to be angrily ordered back down the hill by the local commander who provided only his first name Sergei and the nom de guerre Frantsuz (Frenchman) said the Ukrainian armored column was intercepted while it was traveling to Ilovaisk to assist in evacuating government troops "Starobesheve remains under our control and their equipment is under our control." dozens of Ukrainian troops were allowed to leave the village riding on six APCs Frantsuz said rebel commanders agreed to allow ambulances and trucks to travel to Ilovaisk to take away the injured and the dead Near a bridge on the road out of the village six bodies lay in disarray around a medical truck that was torn apart by a rebel tank shell Ukrainian army personnel dragged away the bodies with cables — a precaution adopted to avoid impact from possible unexploded ordnance A man in the recovery group wretched after one especially mangled body was loaded into a truck Although the bodies showed signs of having lain in the open overnight one severely injured man in the crew was found to still be alive and was carried away for treatment he too died and was tipped face down into the back of the truck along with the other men New footage appears to have captured the dramatic moment a Ukrainian HIMARS strike targeted a Russian awards ceremony with dozens of Russian soldiers and a Russian performer believed to have been killed In a brief clip posted by a prominent Russian military blogger, what look to be Russian soldiers watch a female singer perform onstage before an audible crash The footage has since been shared across social media Newsweek cannot independently verify the video A video allegedly showing the moment of a HIMARS strike on the village of Kumachovo in Donetsk region (controlled by the "DPR") has appeared onlineIt is reported that on November 19, a holiday concert for Russian military personnel was held in Starobeshevo district in the local… pic.twitter.com/q1AYyzUMSQ Local reports had suggested that a number of Russian soldiers had been killed in a strike near the town of Starobesheve and the village of Kumachove in the Donetsk region close to the border with Russia's Rostov Oblast The soldiers had been gathered for an awards ceremony in honor of Russia's 810th Marine Brigade on Russia's Day of Missile Forces and Artillery Russia marks its Day of Missile Forces and Artillery on November 19 A concert, arranged as part of the awards ceremony, took place around 60 kilometers, or 37 miles, from the front lines, the Russian military blogger said The account added the strike had killed Russian actress Polina Menshikh named in the statement as the performer in the video also reported Menshikh had died in the strike Russian state news outlet Tass said that a woman had been killed in a Ukrainian multiple rocket launcher strike in Kumachove Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov ordered an investigation after a reported Russian missile strike on Ukrainian soldiers in the southern Zaporizhzhia region as they observed Kyiv's Missile Forces and Artillery Day on November 3 Ukraine's 128th Separate Mountain Assault Transcarpathian Brigade said in a statement on November 6 that 19 of its soldiers had been killed region declared three days of mourning in early November "My condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers from the 128th Separate Mountain Assault Transcarpathian Brigade," Umerov said In his evening address on November 5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the reported strike a "tragedy that could have been avoided." a Ukrainian soldier who heads up the Magyar Birds aerial reconnaissance unit "Magyar," appeared to reference the reported Donetsk strike on Russian soldiers as "revenge for the 128th." Ukraine has been using U.S.-provided HIMARS since they initially arrived in the country around June 2022 has supplied Ukraine with 39 HIMARS and associated ammunition to date A Reuters reporter saw on Thursday a column of armoured vehicles and dust-covered troops driving through the Russian steppe just across the border from a part of Ukraine which Kiev says is occupied by Russian troops None of the men or vehicles had standard military identification marks but the reporter saw a Mi-8helicopter with a red star insignia - consistent with Russian military markings - land next to a nearby military first aid tent The column was driving east away from the Ukrainian border across open countryside near the village of Krasnodarovka in Russia's Rostov region The location is about 3 km (1.8 miles) from the Ukraine-Russia border and 30 km from the Ukrainian town of Starobesheve which Kiev says Russian forces have occupied in support of pro-Moscow separatist rebels after crossing over the border The column was made up of two armoured personnel carriers six military trucks and one military excavator riding on top of the armoured personnel carriers had dirty faces and one had a bandage on his face One of the trucks had a smashed windscreen and smashed headlights and was being towed by a second truck All the vehicles were marked with white circles there were more trucks with the same white circles some heading towards the border with Ukraine and some away from it Many of the men in camouflage fatigues seen by Reuters on the Russian side of the border had white material wrapped around their arms or legs That matches the appearance of unidentified armed men Ukrainian residents of the area around Starobesheve have reported seeing in the past 48 hours A man in camouflage fatigues at a camp where the first aid tent was located when asked about the significance of the white fabric also with white fabric attached to his uniform told Reuters he was from the Russian city of Ivanovo Ivanovo is home to the Russian military's 98th Guards Airborne Division All the uniformed men Reuters spoke to declined to say whether or not they were in the Russian military Russia denies its troops have entered eastern Ukraine or that it is sending military hardware into Ukraine to help the separatist rebellion there Ukraine's security and defence council said on Thursday the border town of Novoazovsk and other areas further south from Starobesheve had fallen under control of Russian forces who it accused of joining the rebels in a counter-offensive "Russian troops have actually been brought into Ukraine," President Petro Poroshenko said in a statement