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UPDATE on January 2:
The Ministry of Defense of Russia reported that 63 Russian soldiers were killed as a result of the Ukrainian strike in the area of Makeyevka in the DPR. The building was targeted by six HIMARs missiles, two of them were intercepted by Russian air defence forces.
“As a result of the strike of four missiles with a high-explosive warheads at the temporary deployment point, 63 Russian servicemen were killed. All necessary assistance and support will be provided to the relatives and friends of the deceased servicemen,” the ministry said.
According to some unofficial military sources, the losses of the Russian army are heavier.
Last night, Ukrainian forces dealt a heavy blow to the Russian military. At night, the AFU struck a college building in the village of Makeyevka located on the north-western outskirts of Donetsk.
The building was reportedly used for accommodation of Russian servicemen. The AFU shelled the area with the US-made HIMARS MRLS at around midnight when Russian servicemen were celebrating the New Year.
According to the reports, the building was completely destroyed. As a result of the strike, dozens of Russian servicemen were killed. The local security services are still clearing the debris. The exact number of victims remains unknown.
The video was reportedly made on the spot:
This is a blatant case of incompetence of the military command of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the spot who ordered to accommodate hundreds of servicemen in a school building located in the village which is constantly shelled by enemy forces. The damage caused to the building confirms that it could not be used as a shelter due to its fragile construction but Russian commanders preferred it to the numerous abandoned strong buildings with basements. Another strange mistake was to accommodate hundreds of servicemen all together.
The Russian military has been fighting in Ukraine for more than ten months, but some of their top commanders have yet to learn that unfortified social facilities, like schools, are the main and easy targets for enemy artillery.
The incompetence of the Russian officers who made such a decision caused a wave of indignation among the military and various specialists who demanded their punishment. The bloody attack even aroused suspicions of betrayal in the ranks of the Russian military command. Taking into account the heavy losses, the timing of the attack and the great informational value of a major blow to the Russian military in the New Year, betrayal seems to be a very likely version. The strike in Makeyevka fell into line with other suspicious failures of the Russian Army, and can be compared with the defeat of the cruiser Moskva.
