After the Ukrainian attacks on a Russian military base in Makiivka in the Donetsk region, Moscow corrected the number of its own soldiers killed by more than 20 upwards. “The number of our dead comrades has risen to 89,” said General Sergei Sevriyukov in a video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense on Wednesday night. More bodies were found under the rubble of the collapsed reinforced concrete building, including the deputy commander. Previously there had been talk of 63 deaths. Ukraine fired at the makeshift base on New Year’s Eve with the US’s Himar multiple rocket launcher.
Sevryukov also acknowledged mistakes for the first time, thereby confirming media reports. According to him, the main reason for the “tragedy” was that the soldiers used their mobile phones en masse on New Year’s Eve, despite a ban, thereby alerting the Ukrainian side to their location. Accordingly, the Ukrainian armed forces shot down six rockets, four of which hit and two were intercepted, it said.
The investigations are still ongoing, but so much about the background is already clear, said Sevryukov. “This factor allowed the enemy to determine the direction and locate the coordinates of the position of the soldiers in order to carry out the missile strike.” Care is currently being taken to ensure that this does not happen again. In addition, the guilty officials would be held accountable.
The losses to Kremlin troops from the shelling of Makiivka (Russian: Makeyevka) are among the heaviest Russia has suffered in a single attack since invading Ukraine last February. Kyiv had even spoken of 400 dead and 300 injured in Makiivka.
The incident sparked criticism of the military leadership in Russia on the Internet. Several Russian military correspondents, whose influence in the country has grown recently, accused senior military commanders of not having learned from past mistakes. There were also reports that the soldiers were billeted in an unprotected building near an ammunition depot that exploded in the attack.
According to the ministry representative in Moscow, the Himars system from which the shots had been fired was located and destroyed. In addition, in return fire, Russian troops in the Donetsk region destroyed four Himars launch pads, four combat vehicles, more than 800 projectiles and killed more than 200 nationalists and foreign legionnaires. This information cannot be verified independently.
In the past, too, there were repeated reports of serious mistakes made by Russian commanders in this war. The Ukrainian leadership has repeatedly stressed that the “enemy’s stupidity” makes it easy for the military to achieve success. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has already suffered numerous defeats in the invasion of Ukraine that he began on February 24.
