the toll of the strike on a Russian position in Makiivka rises to 89 dead, recognizes Moscow

Russia admitted yesterday its heaviest military losses in a single attack in Ukraine with the death of at least 63 soldiers in a strike on Makiivka in the east. Here is what we know about this bombardment, claimed by the Ukrainian army.

Early Monday afternoon, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that 63 of its soldiers had been killed in a strike carried out using a Himars missile system, a weapon supplied by the United States to Ukraine, which allows deep bombardments, far behind enemy lines. This bombing hit Makiivka, a city located in territory long occupied by Moscow, east of the Donetsk area, one of the strongholds in the hands of pro-Russian separatists.

This announcement is exceptional: it is not only the heaviest toll in a single attack admitted by Moscow since the start of its invasion in February 2022, but it is also the first communication on military losses since September 2022, when the Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu mentioned 5,937 dead in the ranks of the Russian army.

Ukraine, which admitted having carried out this strike by giving the date of December 31, has advanced contradictory information on the losses of the Russian army in Makiïvka. The army’s strategic communications department spoke on Telegram of 400 dead and more than 300 injured. The general staff reported for its part that it did not have definitive information on the number of Russian victims, also quantifying “up to ten” the number of military vehicles “of all types” destroyed in this bombardment.

The Ukrainian forces spoke of a “focus area” of soldiers in Makiivka. According to the Telegram channel Rybar, one of the main pro-Russian sources on the war in Ukraine, the building housed 600 people. On Sunday, Russian and Ukrainian media claimed that the affected building was hosting Russian conscripts, therefore non-professional soldiers.

A source within the local separatist authorities told the Russian state news agency TASS that the bombardment was made possible by a “extensive use by newly arrived soldiers of their mobile phones”which would have allowed their geolocation by the Ukrainian army.

According to former separatist commander Igor Strelkov, very familiar with the situation on the ground, the building was completely destroyed by the strike because ammunition was stored there. He estimated on Telegram the number of victims at ” several hundred “.

The announcement of these losses caused a shock in Russia, but also criticism towards the Russian military command, already embarrassed by a series of humiliating defeats in recent months.

“Despite several months of war, certain conclusions have still not been drawn”notes blogger Boris Rojine, close to pro-Russian Ukrainian separatist circles, castigating “incompetence” senior Russian army officers.

“Why do we keep installing [les mobilisés] in hotels, hostels and professional schools? »wonders for his part the Russian war correspondent Alexander Kots.