Scores of Russian Troops Killed in One of Ukraine War’s Deadliest Strikes

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KYIV — Russia acknowledged on Monday that scores of its troops were killed in one of the Ukraine war’s deadliest strikes, drawing demands from Russian nationalist bloggers for commanders to be punished for housing soldiers alongside an ammunition dump.

Russia’s defense ministry said 63 soldiers had died in the fiery blast which destroyed a temporary barracks in a former vocational college in Makiivka, twin city of the Russian-occupied regional capital of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

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It claimed that four rockets from U.S. HIMARS launchers had struck the accommodation. Two rockets had also been reported as having been downed. Kyiv stated that Russia had killed hundreds of people, although pro-Russian officials claimed this was exaggerated.

Russian military bloggers claimed that the massive destruction resulted from ammunition being stored in the same building as a Barracks, despite the fact that commanders knew it was within reach of Ukrainian rockets.

Separately on Monday, Ukraine announced that it had destroyed all 39 Russian drones fired during a third consecutive night of air strikes against civilian targets within Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

Ukrainian officials said their success proved that Russia’s tactic in recent months of raining down air strikes to knock out Ukraine’s energy infrastructure was increasingly a failure as Kyiv beefs up its air defenses.

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‘EACH MISTAKE HAS A NAME’

Online footage of the aftermath to the strike in Makiivka on Russian barracks showed an enormous building reduced to smoke and rubble.

Former commander of pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, Igor Girkin, who is now one the most prominent Russian nationalist military blogger, claimed that hundreds were killed or injured in the blast. He said that ammunition had been stored at the spot and that military equipment was not camouflaged.

Rybar, another nationalist blogger said that 70 soldiers had been confirmed killed and over 100 were injured.

“What happened in Makiivka is horrible,” Archangel Spetznaz, another Russian military blogger, has over 700,000 Telegram followers.

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“Who came up with the idea to place personnel in large numbers in one building, where even a fool understands that even if they hit with artillery, there will be many wounded or dead?” He wrote. Commanders “couldn’t care less” He spoke out about ammunition that was in disarray at the battlefield.

The open fury reached out to legislators.

Grigory Karasin (a Russian Senator member and former deputy foreign Minister) demanded revenge against Ukraine, its NATO supporters and also “an exacting internal analysis.”

Sergei Mironov, a legislator And former chairman of the Senate, Russia’s upper house, demanded criminal liability for the officials who had “allowed the concentration of military personnel in an unprotected building” and “all the higher authorities who did not provide the proper level of security.”

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“Obviously neither intelligence nor counterintelligence nor air defense worked properly,” Telegram, he stated the following.

Russia’s acknowledgement of scores of deaths in one incident was almost without precedent. Moscow rarely releases figures for its casualties, and when it does the figures are typically low – it acknowledged just one death from among a crew of hundreds when Ukraine sank its flagship cruiser Moskva in April.

Russia has launched nightly attacks on Ukrainian cities throughout the new year. This includes Kyiv, which is hundreds of km from the frontlines. After months of arranging strikes about a week apart, this is a shift in tactics.

Russia had fired several missiles on Dec. 31 and launched many Iranian-made Shahed aircraft on Jan. 1. Kyiv stated Monday that it had downed all 39 drones in its latest wave, 22 of which were over Kiev.

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Kyiv said the new tactic was a sign of Russia’s desperation as Ukraine’s ability to defend its air space had improved.

“Now they are looking for routes and attempts to hit us somehow, but their terror tactics will not work. Our sky will turn into a shield,” Telegram: Andriy Yarmak, presidential chief of staff.

In his nightly speech, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia’s efforts would prove useless. “Drones, missiles, everything else will not help them,” He spoke of the Russians. “Because we stand united. They are united only by fear.”

Ukraine’s air defense systems worked through the night to bring down incoming drones and to warn communities of the approaching danger.

After suffering losses on the battlefield in 2022’s second half, Russia has now launched mass air strikes against Ukrainian cities.

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It says its attacks, which have knocked out heat and power to millions in winter, aim to reduce Kyiv’s ability to fight. The Ukraine claims that the attacks are not intended for military purposes and are meant to harm civilians. This is a war crime.

Russia has flattened Ukrainian cities, killed thousands of civilians and annexed swathes of Ukraine since Putin ordered his invasion last February, calling Ukraine an artificial state whose pro-Western outlook threatened Russia’s security.

With Western military support, Ukraine has fought back against Russian aggression and drove Russian forces from over half of their territory. The front lines have remained largely stationary in recent weeks with many soldiers being killed in fierce warfare. (Reporting by Reuters bureaux. Writing by Peter Graff and Lidia Kelly. Dan Peleschuk. Editing by Clarence Fernandez. Robert Birsel. Alexandra Hudson. Mark Heinrich.