Russia has claimed that Ukraine fired rockets at a facility in Moscow-held areas of Donetsk, killing 63 soldiers stationed there.

This is one of the deadliest attacks on the Russian forces since the war began more than 10 months ago.

The strike, using a US-supplied precision weapon that has proven critical in enabling Ukrainian forces to hit key targets, delivered a new setback for Russia, which in recent months has reeled from a Ukrainian counter-offensive.

According to the governor of Russia’s Samara region, Dmitry Azarov, an unspecified number of residents of the region were among those killed and wounded by the strike in the town of Makiivka.

A total of six rockets were fired by Ukraine, and two of them were shot down, said the Russian defence ministry.

Ammunition stored close to the facility exploded in the rocket strikes and contributed to the high number of casualties, the AP report said.

(With inputs from agencies)