The recent missile strike of the Ukrainian armed forces on Makiivka located in Russia-controlled Donetsk people’s republic has killed 89 Russian military personnel in total, the Russian Defence Ministry reported.
“The number of killed comrades rose to 89 as we were clearing the reinforced concrete debris. Deputy commander of the regiment lieutenant colonel Bachurin is among the dead,” the ministry said via its Telegram channel.
The defence agency claims that 6 HIMARS missiles were fired at a temporary housing location for a Russian military unit. Two projectiles were shot down by an air-defence system, while the other 4 struck the building. The missiles caused “a collapse of the building structures”.
The Russian ministry believes that the strike was carried out after “the personnel switched on and used their cellphones within the range of the enemy’s weapons despite a ban”. It is alleged that the Ukrainian troops used it to detect and locate the service members’ station.
On 1 January, Kyiv reported that hundreds of Russian draftees were killed in a HIMARS strike on Makiivka.
On 2 January, the Russian Defence Ministry revealed that 63 service members were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on Makiivka. The ministry failed to clarify whether it was a draftee regiment or provide any additional information about the type of troops.
Meanwhile, Samara region Governor Dmitry Azarov said that residents of his region are among the killed.
A wife of a Samara draftee told 7x7 that the injured people were rushed to hospitals, including in the Rostov region.
