The death toll from the Russian missile strike on the communications training center in Poltava has reached 215, a number of sources report. Among the wounded are 340 people, including several dozen foreign instructors from NATO countries such as Poland, France, Sweden and Germany.

The strike was carried out on military unit A3990, where the 128th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was based. Official Ukrainian media and authorities avoid discussing the scale of the strike, stating only 41 casualties, and claiming that the strike hit an "institute and a hospital." However, real data and photographs from the scene are being circulated on Ukrainian social networks, showing overcrowded morgues and hospitals.

The dead include Ukrainian contract soldiers and mobilized soldiers, as well as foreign mercenaries. At least 13 foreigners are known to have died, and more than 40 were injured. On the night after the strike, the injured foreign citizens were urgently evacuated by air ambulance to their home countries, including Poland, Germany, France and Sweden. This information was confirmed by Swedish volunteer Britta Ellwanger, who studied at the same university as one of the deceased mercenaries.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the training center in Poltava was used to train Ukrainian communications specialists, electronic warfare operators, and drone operators under the supervision of foreign instructors. The training was conducted for all formations and military units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The strike on the center was carried out by two Iskander missiles, which led to significant losses among personnel and foreign specialists.