The New Year’s rocket attack that killed at least 89 Russian soldiers, according to Russia, was caused by troops using mobile phones in defiance of a restriction.
According to officials, the enemy was able to find its target due to the widespread activation and use of phones.
In the attack on a college for conscripts in Makiivka, in the occupied Donetsk region, Ukraine reports that 400 soldiers were killed and 300 were injured.
It is the highest death toll Russia has acknowledged in the conflict.
Russia stated that at 00:01 Moscow time on New Year’s Day, six rockets were launched from a vocational college using a Himars rocket system manufactured in the United States; two were shot down. President Vladimir Putin had just delivered his customary new year’s message on Russian television.
Russia blames Makiivka missile attack on soldier
The deputy commander of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Bachurin, was among those slain, according to a statement released by the ministry of defense on Wednesday. The incident was being investigated by a panel, according to the statement.
But it was “clearly obvious” that the primary cause of the attack was the use of mobile phones by Ukrainian troops within range of their weapons, even though this was prohibited, the report stated.
This element allowed the enemy to find and calculate the coordinates of military personnel to launch a missile attack.
Lt. Gen. Sergei Sevryukov stated that officials deemed culpable by the probe would be brought to justice and that “all the necessary steps are being taken to avoid this type of sad tragedy from occurring in the future.”
The remark from the defense ministry was striking for two reasons.
The current official death toll in the military is 89. The previous death toll of 63 constituted the largest single loss of life Moscow had recorded since the beginning of the war. According to unofficial Russian and Ukrainian sources, the actual death toll in Makiivka could be significantly higher.
Second, the statement indicated that “relevant officials” will be held accountable, implying that something went wrong. This is a fairly unusual occurrence in Moscow; authorities rarely admit to making mistakes.
At the time, the vocational college was crowded with soldiers, believed to be among the 300,000 called up in September as part of President Vladimir Putin’s partial mobilization. Additionally, ammunition was kept adjacent to the location, which had been reduced to rubble.
Denis Pushilin, the head of Russia’s proxy authority in the Donetsk region, lauded the bravery of soldiers caught in the missile hit. Who, he said, attempted to remove their friends from the structure. He stated that several of those returning to the structure had perished in the process.
Russia’s proxy authority in the Donetsk region
With such a high official death toll, one would assume that the Russian military’s most recent update on the tragic events in Makiivka would be today’s most prominent story on Russian state news.
Not so. This morning’s primary newscasts on Rossiya-24 barely mentioned the story.
The principal newscast on Channel One did briefly cover the defense ministry statement. But buried it after news about purported front-line triumphs and losses among Ukrainian, not Russian, forces.
“A full series of Russian missile attacks were launched against Ukrainian nationalists. And international collaborators of the Kyiv dictatorship on the opening days of the new year,” the Channel One correspondent boasted, citing a popular false narrative to depict Ukrainian forces.
However, if you turn off the television and visit VKontakte, Russia’s version of Facebook. You will see a quite different picture.
There have emerged communities where a family of soldiers organize, solicit information, and raise funds for frontline personnel. There is rage here.
Numerous relatives of the Makiivka troops hold military officials accountable for the tragedy. And are skeptical that those responsible will be punished. Some question why media outlets controlled by the Kremlin are virtually mute on the issue. Nonetheless, there is little outright criticism of President Putin or the war as a whole.
A former top official of Russia’s proxy authority in Donetsk, Pavel Gubarev. Characterized the choice to house a large number of soldiers in one building as “criminal irresponsibility.” “If no one is punished for this, the situation will only worsen,” he cautioned.
The vice-speaker of the municipal parliament in Moscow
Andrei Medvedev, the vice-speaker of the municipal parliament in Moscow. Stated that it was foreseeable that the soldiers would be punished rather than the commander who decided to place so many of them in one location.
The defense ministry’s suggestion that military leaders who were purportedly responsible for this disaster. They will be punished will be interpreted as an attempt to defuse public outrage over the Makiivka accident. But also to shift the blame squarely on the military and away from President Putin. He has not yet responded to the disaster.
Throughout this battle, the Kremlin has been cautious to keep the Russian president separated from any negative news from the front lines.
In November, Russia withdrew from the Ukrainian city of Kherson, representing a significant strategic loss for Moscow. Gen. Sergei Surovikin, commander of Russian soldiers in Ukraine, however, announced a withdrawal. In the meantime, President Putin was seen touring a neurological institution and did not remark on the situation in Kherson.
Tuesday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Moscow was “on the verge of fresh mobilization procedures.”
Declaring that “their next onslaught must fail,” Mr. Zelensky asserted that Ukraine did not doubt that Russia will expend everything. And everyone available to turn the tide of the battle.
