If confirmed, the New Year’s Eve attack on Russian troops in Makiivka could be Moscow’s largest single loss of life in the war in Ukraine
A Ukrainian Himars attack on a town in Russia-held eastern Ukraine flattened completely destroyed a vast building holding several hundred Russian mobilised men inside.
Early estimates from Kyiv and from pro-Russian sources suggest the New Year’s Eve attack on the barracks in Makiivka could be Russia’s single biggest loss of life since the start of the invasion last February.
The Ukrainian military on Monday mocked Russia over the attack on a former school building in Makiivka, a suburb of Donetsk, attributing it to “smoking in inappropriate places” and claiming that it killed “about 400” people.
A former Ukrainian separatist commander put the death toll at “hundreds” of killed and injured.
A video from the Ukrainian army’s communications department showed what was once a huge building turned into rubble, with just one two-storey wall left standing among the smouldering debris on the ground.
Photos of the school building in Makiivka where Russia had stationed mobilized troops
Photos of the school building in Makiivka where Russia had stationed mobilised troops
A Russia-appointed official in Donetsk on Sunday told the Tass news agency of 15 injured men in the attack in Makiivka but Russian officials have not commented on the cause of the attack or a possible death toll.
Daniil Bezsonov, a separatist official in Donetsk, confirmed on Monday that the school in Makiivka came under attack from Ukraine’s Himars multiple-rocket system.
Shortly before they reported the death toll, the Ukrainian military posted a video online, captioned “Surprise!”, showing what appears to be a Himars system launching a strike in the dark.
Ukrainian media reported that the school housed almost 300 soldiers, most of them mobilised men from one Russian region who were doing their training.
Russia’s ultra-nationalist politicians and staunch war supporters on Monday spoke of a “tragedy in Makiivka” and blamed the Russian military for being too careless, inviting large casualties by housing so many soldiers in one place so close to the frontline.
Igor Girkin, a retired Russian official and former Ukrainian separatist commander who has been increasingly critical of the Kremlin’s handling of the war, on Monday accused the Russian military of negligence.
The entire building reportedly collapsed after ammunition stored inside detonated. Armoured vehicles parked nearby were also destroyed.
The number of casualties in Makiivka are “in several hundreds”, he said on his Telegram channel, adding that a great number of people were missing as they were trapped under the debris.
He said he received repeated complaints that Russia troops in eastern Ukraine can be under a deadly attack “at any moment” as they were stationed precariously close to the front line and well within the range of the Himars missile systems.
Andrei Medvedev, a pro-Kremlin Moscow lawmaker who has links to the Donetsk separatists, said on Monday the decision to house troops “in a house rather than in a well-hidden place is direct help for the enemy”.
