Russia’s defense ministry said on Wednesday that 89 soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian attack on Makievka in Moscow-controlled parts of Donetsk Oblast, adding that the principal reason for the attack was the unauthorized use of mobile phones by soldiers.
“It’s already obvious that the principal reason for what happened was the inclusion and big use – contrary to the ban – by personnel of mobile phones within the range of hostile weapons,” the ministry said in an announcement.
“This factor allowed the enemy to trace and determine the coordinates of the situation of the troops for the missile strike.”
Just after midnight on New Year’s Day, a strike began at a faculty that had been converted right into a military headquarters in Makievka fueled the anger amongst Russian nationalists and a few lawmakers, questioning the military strategy there. Russia had previously reported that 63 Russian soldiers had been killed.
The defense ministry said 4 rockets from US HIMARS launchers hit the constructing, adding that “in consequence of the detonation of the HIMARS missile warheads, the ceilings of the constructing collapsed.”
![Workers clear the rubble of a destroyed building that was intended to be a vocational school used as temporary accommodation for Russian soldiers, in Makiyevka (Makiyevka), Russian-controlled Ukraine, January 3, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/2023-01-03T104232Z_1488624067_RC2XIY9Z640Q_RTRMADP_3_UKRAINE-CRISIS-MAKIIVKA-SHELLING.jpg?w=1024)
The ministry added in its statement on the Telegram messaging app that the commission was investigating the circumstances of the attack.
The ministry also suggested that in return it will attack an “equipment concentration” near the Druzhkovka railway station in Donetsk, killing as much as 200 Ukrainian staff and destroying 4 HIMARS launchers and greater than 800 rockets.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm the reports.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Tuesday that two people were injured in an attack on Druzhkovka that destroyed ice Hockey arena.