MOSCOW, Jan. 8 (TASS) - Russia’s armed forces have killed more than 600 Ukrainian servicemen in a massive rocket strike on temporary bases in Kramatorsk, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday.

"Over the past day, Russian intelligence means detected and reliably confirmed through various independent channels some temporary bases of Ukrainian servicemen in Kramatorsk," the spokesman said. "As a result of a massive rocket strike on these temporary bases of Ukrainian units, more than 600 Ukrainian servicemen were killed," he added.

Over 700 Ukrainian servicemen were at dormitory No. 28 and more than 600 were at dormitory No. 47 in Kramatorsk, Konashenkov said.

The strike on the Ukrainian armed forces was part of a retaliation operation, he noted. "In response to an illicit strike inflicted by Kiev’s regime on a temporary Russian military base in the settlement of Makeyevka of the Donetsk People’s Republic in the first minutes of January 2023 the command of the united group of Russian military forces conducted a retaliation operation," he said.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported 89 Russian servicemen killed as a result of a Ukrainian strike with six HIMARS rockets on a temporary deployment center of Russia’s Armed Forces in Makeyevka in the early hours of January 1.