The number of Russian military personnel killed in a recent Ukrainian rocket attack on a school that housed soldiers in Makiivka, in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region, has been increased to 89. The attack was blamed on unauthorised use of mobile phones by Russian forces.
Moscow had upheld the figure of 63 Russian servicemen dead until Wednesday, despite claims by Ukraine that nearly 400 Russian soldiers were killed in the missile attack on New Year’s Day on Sunday.
The initial Russian acknowledgement of 63 fatalities was already exceedingly rare because it represented the largest single-raid death toll Moscow had acknowledged since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In a video statement published by the Russian defense ministry early on Wednesday, Lieutenant General Sergey Sevryukov declared, “The number of our deceased colleagues has increased to 89.” According to him, more victims were discovered buried beneath debris in the town of Makiivka, raising the death toll.
According to Sevryukov, the incident was caused by Russian soldiers using their cellphones while on duty.
“It is already clear that the fundamental reason for what transpired was the switching on and widespread use by employees of mobile phones in a reach zone of enemy weaponry, contrary to the restriction,” he stated.
This element made it possible for the adversary to locate the soldiers and track them down in order to launch a missile attack.
Russian nationalists and a few lawmakers are already criticizing the military tactics of Moscow’s commanders in Ukraine in response to the devastating strike on a vocational school that had been turned into military barracks.
Igor Girkin, a former member of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), who played a key role in launching the initial conflict in the Donbas in 2014, claimed in a post on the Telegram messaging app that military supplies and ammunition were kept in the buildings housing the Russian troops, which increased the blast’s intensity.
Girkin attributed the defeats to Russia’s “untrainable” generals.
Instead of President Vladimir Putin, anger on social media has been aimed against Russia’s military leaders.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, pro-Russian military blogs had dismissed the mobile phone explanation as a “fiction” and charged the Russian command with “criminally negligent behavior” for failing to disperse its troops in smaller formations further away from the front line.
Such significant military failures will make it more difficult for Putin to placate the Russian anti-war movement and maintain the dominant narrative in the domestic media, according to the institute.
The structure was struck by four rockets from US-made HIMARS launchers, according to the Russian defense ministry, and its ceilings collapsed as a result of the rockets’ warheads exploding.
Sevryukov stated that a panel was working to investigate the facts surrounding what had transpired and that steps were being taken to ensure that such occurrences wouldn’t occur in the future and that those accountable for the security lapse would be held accountable.
The new death toll from the defense ministry was released as vigils for the deceased took place in a number of locations in Samara’s Volga region, the home of some of the service members killed in the attack.
In a video speech on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russia was about to unleash a massive operation to boost its fortunes but made no mention of the attack.
In the video message, Zelenskyy stated, “We have no doubt that current masters of Russia will throw everything they have left and everyone they can gather to try to turn the flow of the fight and at least delay their defeat.”
We must interfere with this Russian scenario. We are getting ready for this. Terrorists must fall short. Any effort to implement their new onslaught must be unsuccessful,” he continued.
Putin is being urged to command a massive mobilization of millions of Russian men to assure victory in Ukraine by a little-known patriotic organization in Russia that supports the widows of Russian soldiers.
Putin intends to speak with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, the most recent in a string of discussions the two have held since the start of the conflict.
The United Nations and Turkey served as mediators to reach an agreement enabling grain exports from Ukrainian ports last year, but the likelihood of meaningful peace negotiations is remote, especially as the conflict persists.
