The Russian MoD has updated the number of Russian servicemen killed in the barracks near Donetsk on New Year’s Eve and provided new details about the Ukrainian artillery attack on the facility.
In a statement released on its Telegram channel, the institution details that the attack was carried out with six projectiles from the US-made HIMARS rocket launcher, which were fired at the first minute after midnight, on January 1th, against a point of temporary deployment of a Russian military unit near the town of Makéyevka.
“Two of the projectiles were intercepted by the anti-aircraft defenses,” while “four breaker explosive projectiles hit a building where the Russian soldiers were,” causing the building to collapse, the statement said.
“Unfortunately, while the rubble was removed from the reinforced concrete structures, the number of our dead comrades increased to 89,” the document highlights.
The authorities state that return fire destroyed the multiple rocket launcher with which the Ukrainian armed forces were firing at Makéyevka. In addition, missile and aviation attacks against concentrations of war materiel near the Druzhkovka train station in the Donetsk People’s Republic succeeded in destroying another four HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, four RM-70 rocket launchers, more than 800 projectiles, eight vehicles, as well as more than 200 Ukrainian fighters and foreign mercenaries.
In addition, a temporary deployment site of one of the Foreign Legion units near Maslovka was attacked, where more than 130 foreign mercenaries were killed.
While a commission is investigating the circumstances of the incident, according to the document, “it is already clear that the main cause of what happened was the activation and massive use, against the prohibition, of mobile phones by staff in the radius of range of hostile weaponry”.
“This factor allowed the enemy to track and determine the coordinates of the location of the soldiers to carry out the attack,” the ministry underlines.
“The necessary measures are already being taken to avoid similar tragic incidents in the future. At the conclusion of the investigation, the guilty officials will have to assume responsibility,” notes the text, signed by Lieutenant General Sergei Sevriukov, first deputy head of the Directorate Political-Military Chief of the Russian Armed Forces.
On the other hand, it has been emphasized that “all the necessary assistance and support are provided to all the victims and families of deceased military personnel.”
