Russia on Wednesday blamed its soldiers’ own use of their cell phones for Ukrainians launching a New Year’s Day attack on a temporary Russian barracks outside of Donetsk.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said devices were used to pinpoint the servicemembers at a vocational school in Makiivka that had been commandeered by the Russian military.
“It is already obvious that the main reason for what happened was the switching on and massive use – contrary to the prohibition – by personnel of mobile phones in a reach zone of enemy weapons,” the ministry said in a statement.
“This factor allowed the enemy to track and determine the coordinates of the soldiers’ location for a missile strike.”
The Kremlin had initially reported 63 soldiers dead in the strike, but said the death toll had grown to 89 on Wednesday
It was a noteworthy reversal of Moscow’s tendency to suppress battlefield death tallies. The strike is one of the deadliest incidents to date in the 10-month war.
Russia blamed the unauthorized use of mobile phones by the troops for the attack. ReutersRussia has claimed that the four rockets were part of a six-missile barrage launched by a Ukrainian HIMARS launcher. The Kremlin says its forces intercepted two of the incoming projectiles.
Ukraine has not directly confirmed the strike, but acknowledged an explosion at the site and claimed as many as 400 Russians had been killed.
The attack has unleashed a torrent of uncharacteristic criticism within Russia, with bloggers claiming Moscow is under-reporting the death toll.
Daniil Bezsonov, spokesman for Russia’s puppet regime in the Donetsk province, criticized the military’s decision to house troops in the school building, claiming that “high command is still not aware of the capabilities of [the HIMARS].”
“I hope that the perpetrators who made the decision to use this facility will be punished,” he added.
The Kremlin said Wednesday that it had retaliated with air strikes against Ukrainian targets, claiming to have killed 200 Ukrainian troops.
Russia also claimed to have destroyed four Ukrainian HIMARS launchers. Those claims could not be verified. Russia has falsely claimed to have hit Ukrainian HIMARS in the past, and Kyiv has filled the battlefield with decoys to draw Russian fire.
