According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the unregulated use of mobile phones by soldiers was the main reason for Ukraine’s success in the missile attack.
The Ukrainian attack took place on the town of Makevka in the Donetsk region, which was occupied by the Russian army, on New Year’s Eve.
Rockets hit a school building where many Russian soldiers were staying. The use of cell phones around midnight should have revealed their misplaced location.
It was not clear how many people were killed in the attack. The number varies from 89 to 400.
Ukraine has stated this Up to 400 Russians were killedbut this has not been confirmed by other sources.
Debt New Year’s greetings
A high-ranking Russian officer in the Ministry of Defense in Moscow believes the reason is clear.
– There is a committee in the process of investigating the incident, but it is already clear that the main reason was that individuals turned on and used mobile phones extensively in violation of the rules which state that it is illegal to use enemy weapons to reach them. This is what Lieutenant General Sergei Severyukov said in a video released by the ministry, according to Agence France-Presse.
The school building where the temporary Russian base was located was hit one minute after midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Severyukov said the attackers used the US HIMARS missile system.
After Putin’s New Year’s speech
The attack came shortly after President Vladimir Putin delivered his traditional New Year’s address.
In a rare statement, Russian authorities announced on Monday that 63 soldiers had been killed in the attack. It is the largest total loss reported by Moscow since the invasion in February last year.
On Wednesday night, the number was revised to 89 after more dead people were found in the rubble.
The story of the loss came after many Russian media and military bloggers blamed Russian military leaders for gross incompetence.
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