The airstrike targeted a Ukrainian drone based close to the frontline, several Telegram channels said
The Russian Aerospace Forces have bombed New York, a village in the portion of the Donetsk People’s Republic under Ukrainian control, several Telegram channels tracking the conflict reported on Wednesday. The Russian Defense Ministry has neither confirmed nor denied the strike.
New York is right on the front line, west of Gorlovka and north of the city of Donetsk, roughly between the flashpoints of Artyomovsk (known in Ukraine as Bakhmut) and Avdeevka.
The 132nd Gorlovka Brigade reportedly tracked one of the Ukrainian ‘Baba Yaga’ bomber drones to an outpost near the hamlet, at which point they called in an airstrike. Russian bombers then hit the facility with heavy glide bombs.
A video that made rounds on social media on Wednesday afternoon showed the initial blast followed by a shockwave and a secondary explosion, suggesting that the base was not just a command post but an ammunition warehouse as well.
Over the past year, the Russian Aerospace Forces have used glide modification kits to extend the range of FAB gravity bombs, enabling their use against Ukrainian ground forces without putting pilots at risk of air defenses.
Wednesday’s strike came amid heavy bombardment of the remaining Ukrainian positions in Avdeevka, south of New York, as Russian forces continued to advance in the city.
Founded in 1859 by a group of Mennonite Protestants from Germany, the hamlet was named New York. It was renamed Novgorodskoe (New City) during the Soviet times, but Ukrainian authorities restored the old name in mid-2021.
During the summer of 2014, it was briefly under the control of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), which had declared independence from Ukraine following the US-backed coup in Kiev. The republic eventually joined Russia following a referendum in September 2022.
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