Russian-occupied Donetsk region has blamed the attack by Ukrainian military on unauthorized use of mobile phones by its forces.
While Ukraine has claimed that about four hundred Russian soldiers were killed in the missile attack in the first minutes of New Year’s Day on Sunday, Moscow had until today maintained that sixty-three Russian soldiers were killed.
Russia’s initial admission of sixty-three deaths was already highly unusual as it marked the most significant loss of life from a single raid confirmed by Moscow since the start of its Ukraine invasion in February 2022.
The devastating attack on a vocational school that was converted into military quarters has spurred anger among Russian nationalists and some legislators who are again questioning the military strategy of Moscow’s commanders in Ukraine.
In a post on the Telegram messaging app, Igor Girkin, a former Russian Federal Security Service officer who was instrumental in starting the initial 2014 war in the Donbas region, said that ammunition and military equipment had been stored in the buildings housing the Russian soldiers, contributing to the strength of the blast.
Girkin however blamed Russia’s untrained generals for the losses.
