MOSCOW

Russia on Sunday claimed to have hit a military training center in Ukraine, killing over 100 "special operations forces servicemen and mercenaries." 

"High-precision air-launched missiles struck the training center of the Ukrainian special operations forces near Ovruch settlement of Zhytomir region, where foreign mercenaries who arrived in Ukraine were based. More than 100 special operations forces servicemen and mercenaries were killed," Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov told a news conference in Moscow.

He added that Russian air forces also hit 62 military assets of the Ukrainian Armed Forces late Saturday.

In total, Konashenkov said, 207 unmanned aerial vehicles, 1,467 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 148 multiple launch rocket systems, 573 field artillery and mortar guns, as well as 1,262 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed since the beginning of the "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24.

While military damages and casualties on both sides have not been independently verified, at least 847 civilians have been killed and around 1,400 injured in Ukraine since Russia launched the war on its western neighbor last month, according to UN estimates. The hostilities have also driven 10 million people from their homes.  

*Writing by Gozde Bayar