Desna barracks airstrike

On 17 May 2022, an airstrike by the Russian Air Force hit a military barracks in Desna, Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine.

Desna barracks airstrike
197 Sergeant Training Center A4224 Village of Desna, Chernihiv Oblast.
Type	Airstrike
Target	Ukrainian Ground Forces
Date	May 17, 2022
Executed by	Russian Air Force
Casualties	131 missing and killed

Aftermath

Ukrainian authorities initially reported that eight people had died and twelve were wounded,^[1] but updated the casualty count a week later when Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 87 bodies had been recovered.^[2][3] Russian officials said that the military had used "high-precision, long-range missiles."^[3] It was reportedly the largest single loss of life in the Ukrainian military in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine up to that point.^[4]

In November 2023, the Ukrainian Memory Book Group [uk] reported by name the updated toll of the attack to 63 killed, 68 officially missing and 39 wounded.^[5]

References

1. Zinets, Natalia (2022-05-17). Heritage, Timothy (ed.). "Russian air strike kills eight in northern Ukraine, emergency service says". Reuters. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
2. "Bodies of 87 people found under rubble after Russian airstrike on Desna". www.ukrinform.net. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
3. Zinets, Natalia; Humphries, Conor (2022-05-23). Evans, Catherine (ed.). "Ukraine says 87 were killed in Russian air strike last week". Reuters. Archived from the original on 8 January 2023. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
4. Harding, David (2022-05-23). "Ukraine says 87 killed in Russian attack on military base". The Independent. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
5. "На війні загинули щонайменше 30 тисяч українських захисників, – "Книга пам'яті"". 15 November 2023. experience of our work on the issue of missing persons,..., shows that the vast majority of them are dead, in many cases, even body fragments will not be found, Tynchenko and Shapovalenko note. As an example, they cite the missile attack on the 169th Desna Training Center of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, carried out by the Russians on May 17, 2022. As a result of this shelling, 63 servicemen were killed, 39 were wounded, and 68 were officially missing