Killed in a Ukrainian bombing of 89 Russian soldiers during the invasion of that country continues to provoke criticism among the Moscow elite. Although at first it was reported that there were 63 victims, the number later rose this Wednesday when the authorities found more bodies among the ruins of the military base that was attacked with powerful rockets. Himars that the United States gave to Ukraine.
The event occurred on New Year’s Eve in the town of Makéyevka, in the annexed Donetsk region, and was confirmed by the state mayor ukrainian as its author. However, the kyiv side says that the victims amount to 400 dead and 300 injured, figures that Russia did not confirm.
Russian General Sergei Svriukov, in a video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense, explained that the “main reason” for the attack was the “use of mobile phones” by soldiers, which made it possible to reveal their location in real time.
Sevriukov assured that “the necessary measures were taken to avoid these tragic incidents in the future” and that “those responsible will be held accountable.”
The truth is that this is the highest death toll in a single attack recognized by Moscow since the start of its offensive in February and occurs after a series of military setbacks on the ground. According to Russian media, the victims were recruits, that is, non-professional soldiers.
harsh criticism
The announcement of the new balance sparked a new wave of criticism of Russia’s military leadership, already lashed out on Monday and Tuesday for its “incompetence” by Russian correspondents and commentators.
The management of the RT chain, the international propaganda arm of the Kremlin, asked to publish the names of the Russian commanders and “their responsibility”. “It is time to understand that impunity does not lead to social harmony. Impunity leads to new crimes.
And, consequently, to public dissent,” wrote Margarita Simonian on Telegram. Numerous Russians called on social networks for a transparent investigation of the facts. “They are going to drag it along and, in the worst case, they will charge someone with it “Valeri Butorin said on the VK platform.
“It is not the mobile phones or their owners that are to be blamed, but the banal negligence of the commanders who, I am sure, did not even try to relocate the personnel” outside the building, lamented the group “Notes of a veteran” on Telegram, with 200,000 followers.
According to the Russian army, the attack was carried out with the help of HIMARS missile systems, a weapon supplied by the United States to Ukraine that allows strikes behind enemy lines.
Russian war correspondents have accused Russian commanders of failing to learn from their past mistakes and shifting the blame onto soldiers. The Rybar Telegram account, with a million followers, called it “criminally naive” for the army to store ammunition next to bedrooms.
In an unusual event in Russia, where the public powers usually keep a low profile in the face of military losses in Ukraine, some 200 people gathered on Tuesday to honor the dead in Samara (centre), where some deceased soldiers came from.
“It’s very hard, it’s scary. But they can’t break us. Pain unites us,” Ekaterina Kolotovkina, who leads a group of military wives, declared at the ceremony held in an Orthodox church.
During the ceremony, soldiers fired salutes in memory of the victims and attendees laid out roses and offerings in a square in the center of the city. Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to react publicly.
This Wednesday, the Russian president chaired by videoconference the deployment of a warship equipped with new hypersonic cruise missiles, for a mission in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and in the Mediterranean Sea. On the Ukrainian front, hostilities persist.
Russian General Sevriukov claimed that his forces had destroyed several HIMARS launchers in the town of Druzhkivka, in Donetsk, and claimed heavy losses among kyiv troops. Ukraine only reported one death there and the destruction of an ice skating rink. In the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014, the governor of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvojayev, indicated that the Russian fleet had repelled a drone attack, of which two were shot down.
A person in charge of the Russian occupation in the south, Vladimir Rogov, reported the death of two civilians in Vasilevka, in the Zaporizhia region, after a Ukrainian shot with Himars. The Ukrainian General Staff reported shelling on Wednesday in Kramatorsk (east), Zaporizhia and Kherson (south). The presidency reported five deaths and 13 wounded by Russian fire in the last 24 hours.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
TIME
*With AFP
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