Mourners voiced their grief and anger on Tuesday at a rare public commemoration in Russia after scores of Russian soldiers were killed by a Ukrainian strike on New Year’s Eve.
Russia’s defence ministry, in a rare admission on Monday, said 89 Russian soldiers died when Ukraine hit “a temporary deployment facility” with four US supplied Hitmars missiles.
Russia said in the early hours of Wednesday that more bodies had been found under the rubble in the town of Mikiivka in the Russian controlled region of Donetsk.
The defence ministry declared that the tragedy had taken place because Russian troops had used cell phones, giving away their location to Ukraine forces.
Ukraine’s military command said up to 400 Russian soldiers were killed in the city, which is in a Moscow-controlled area of the Donetsk region.
Even if the total numbers are low, the strike in Makiivka would be one of the deadliest attacks involving conscripts and will add further pressure on Moscow’s military leaders.
In a statement, Ukraine’s military’s general staff said “up to 10 units of enemy military equipment of various types were destroyed and damaged in the area of concentration in the settlement of Makiivka.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had just delivered his traditional New Year’s address. The Kremlin chief hailed the heroes fighting in Ukraine.
Kyiv has taken responsibility for the strike and said the toll could be much higher. Russian war correspondent said many of the victims were reservists recently mobilised into the army.
The admission of the heavy losses came after the war correspondents, who have gained influence in recent months, accused Russia’s top commanders of fatal incompetence.
Source: Business Insider, News24, CNN, The Guardian, Eyewitness News, image from Twitter: @GlasnostGone