The death toll from a Ukrainian New Year strike in Makiivka has risen to 89, Russia said on Wednesday after Russians gathered to mourn the troops who died.
Moscow said early Wednesday that more bodies have been found under the rubble in the town of Makiivka in the Russian-controlled region of Donetsk and the death toll has risen to 89.
The Defence Ministry declared the tragedy occurred because Russian troops had used cell phones, giving away their location to Ukrainian Military forces.
Moscow on Monday said that 63 troops were killed, the biggest loss of life from a single strike reported by Russia since the start of the offensive in February last year.
“The number of our dead comrades has gone up to 89,” Lieutenant General Sergei Sevryukov said in a video statement released by the defence ministry Wednesday early morning.
Ukraine struck a temporary base in Makiivka at 12:01 am local time on January 1, using US-supplied HIMARS rocket systems, Said Sevryukov.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had just delivered his traditional New Year’s address. The Kremlin chief hailed “our heroes” fighting in Ukraine and declared that “historical rightness is on our side.”
Ukraine has taken responsibility for the strike and said the death toll could be much higher. Russian war correspondents said many of the victims were reservists recently mobilized into the army.
The admission of the heavy losses came after the war correspondents, who have gained influence in recent months, accused Russia’s top commanders of fatal incompetence.
Sevryukov said in a statement on Wednesday that it was the use of cell phones by soldiers that had led to the deadly jungle strike.
“Currently, a commission is working to investigate the circumstances of what has happened,” he stated.
“But it is already obvious that the main reason for what has happened was the turning on and massive use by personnel of mobile phones within reach of enemy weapons contrary to the ban.”
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He said measures were being taken to ensure such incidents would not happen in the future, and all those responsible will be punished.
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The new announcement came after mourners gathered in several cities of the Volga region of Samara, where some of the servicemen came from to mourn the dead.
