Russian Soldiers Die in Ukrainian Attack
Over 89 Russian soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian attack on Makiivka, a city in the Donetsk region of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists, on New Year’s Eve. The Russian defense ministry has claimed that the soldiers’ use of cellphones in the area, despite a ban, was the main cause of the attack.
“Currently, a commission is working to investigate the circumstances of what has happened,” Lieutenant General Sergei Sevryukov said in a video statement released by the Russian defence ministry early Wednesday.
“But it is already obvious that the main reason. was the turning on and massive use by personnel of mobile phones within reach of enemy weapons contrary to the ban,” he said.
Ukraine has taken responsibility for the attack and stated that the number of casualties may be higher. Russian politicians and experts have criticized the military for incompetence and for providing the soldiers with vulnerable accommodation. Pavel Gubarev, a former official in Russia’s proxy authority in Donetsk, has called the decision to house a large number of soldiers in one building “criminal negligence
