Kyiv, Ukraine – The Russian military came under scrutiny on Wednesday after details emerged of how at least 89 Russian soldiers – and possibly more – were killed in a Ukrainian attack on a building.
Last week’s attack on the Ukrainian town of Makiivka, which is under Russian control and where the soldiers are stationed, appears to have been a combination for disaster. Hundreds of Russian soldiers were reportedly gathered in a building near the front line, within range of the enemy’s western-supplied precision artillery, possibly sitting near an ammunition dump, and perhaps unknowingly helping Russian forces from Kyiv attack them.
It was one of the deadliest attacks on Kremlin forces since the start of the war, which will be a year old in February, and the highest death toll in any incident reported by any party to the conflict.
Ukrainian forces claimed that about 400 Russian soldiers attending a vocational school were killed in the attack in Makiivka. About 300 others were injured according to official information. At this point in time, due to the fighting, it has not been possible to verify the statements of the parties.
The Russian army tried to blame the soldiers for their own deaths. Lt. Gen. Sergei Sevryukov said in a statement released late Tuesday that the signal from their phones allowed Kyiv’s armed forces to “determine the coordinates of the location of military personnel” and launch an attack.
Emily Ferris, a Russia and Eurasia researcher at the Royal United Services Institute in London, told The Associated Press that it was “very difficult to verify” whether phone signals and geolocation were responsible for the targeted attack.
He pointed out that Russian soldiers on duty are forbidden to use their phones precisely because there have been many instances in recent years where they have been used as a target, including by both sides in the Ukraine war. The conflict has made extensive use of modern technology.
He also said that blaming soldiers is a “useful narrative” for Moscow as it helps deflect criticism and draws attention to the official ban on phone use.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Tuesday reported the release of a video directed at Russian soldiers with instructions to surrender using Ukrainian drones, which will lead them to a meeting point with the Ukrainian side.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also tried to turn the conversation around during a video call Wednesday while attending the farewell ceremony for a frigate armed with the Russian Navy’s new hypersonic missiles.
Putin called the Zircon missiles carried by Admiral Gorshkov’s frigate a “unique weapon” capable of traveling at nine times the speed of sound and having a range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). Russia said the missiles could not be intercepted.