What we know about the deadly Makiivka strike in Ukraine
Russia yesterday conceded its heaviest military casualties in a single attack in Ukraine, with the deaths of at least 63 soldiers in a strike on Makiivka in the east. Here’s what we know about this bombardment claimed by the Ukrainian army.
- What happened in Makiivka?
Early Monday afternoon, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that 63 of its soldiers had been killed in an attack using a Himars missile system, a weapon supplied to Ukraine by the United States that enables deep bombardments far behind enemy lines. This bombing hit Makiivka, a town located in long-held Moscow territory east of Donetsk Oblast, one of the strongholds in the hands of pro-Russian separatists.
This announcement is extraordinary: not only is it the heaviest number in a single attack Moscow has admitted since the start of its invasion in February 2022, but it is also the first communication of military casualties since September 2022, when Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu mentioned 5,937 Dead in the ranks of the Russian army.
- What are the Ukrainians saying?
Ukraine, which admitted to having carried out this strike by giving the date of December 31, has presented conflicting information about Russian army losses in Makiivka. The army’s department for strategic communications spoke of 400 dead and more than 300 injured by telegram. For its part, the staff reported that they had no definitive information on the number of Russian casualties, and also put the number of military vehicles “of all types” destroyed in this bombing at “up to ten.”
- Why so many dead?
Ukrainian armed forces spoke of a “concentration zone” of soldiers in Makiivka. According to 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 housed Russian conscripts, i.e. non-professional soldiers.
A source within the local separatist authorities told the Russian state news agency TASS that the bombing was made possible by the “extensive use of their mobile phones by the newly arrived military,” which would have enabled their geolocation by the Ukrainian army.
According to former separatist commander Igor Strelkov, who is well acquainted with the situation on the ground, the building was completely destroyed by the strike because ammunition was stored there. On Telegram, he estimated the number of victims at “several hundred”.
- What reactions in Russia?
The announcement of these losses caused shock in Russia, but also criticism of the Russian military command, which has already been embarrassed by a series of humiliating defeats in recent months.
“Despite months of war, certain conclusions have still not been drawn,” notes blogger Boris Rojine, who is close to pro-Russian Ukrainian separatist circles, and castigates the “incompetence” of senior Russian army officers.
“Why do we continue to install [les mobilisés] in hotels, hostels and vocational schools? asks the Russian war correspondent Alexander Kots.