MOSCOW — Following Ukrainian missile strikes on a Russian military shelter in the town of Makiyivka in eastern Ukraine, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said 89 of its soldiers were killed in the attack, updating the previous death toll given by more than 20.
The soldiers, including the deputy commander, were found in the rubble of the collapsed reinforced concrete building after the the missile strike on New Year's Eve, Lt. Gen. Sergei Sevryukov said in Moscow late Tuesday.
Kyiv reported Monday that an attack on New Year's Eve killed hundreds of Russian soldiers in a temporary shelter in the town of Makiyivka in the eastern Donetsk region. The Russian Defense Ministry first admitted to the deaths of 63 soldiers.
According to media reports, those killed were reservists called up during Moscow's partial mobilization. They are said to have gathered in the building for a New Year's celebration.
For the first time, Sevryukov also admitted that mistakes had been made, therefore confirming media reports according to which the Ukrainian military reportedly became aware of the site because of the high activity of mobile phone data traffic.
While investigations were still ongoing, it was already clear that "this factor has enabled the enemy to determine the direction and locate the coordinates of the soldiers' position in order to carry out the missile strike," Sevryukov said.
Those in charge would be held accountable, he added.
It is very unusual for Moscow to confirm a high number of soldiers killed after an attack. It is the highest number of deaths in one place cited by Russia itself in the war that Russia started in February.
Kyiv had spoken of 400 killed and 300 injured in the Makiyivka attack. It is impossible to independently verify information from either side.
According to Sevryukov, the HIMARS multiple rocket launcher used by Ukraine in the attack had been located and destroyed.
The general staff said that Russian units in the village of Fedorivka were also hit on Jan. 1. The number of casualties is still unclear.
Fedorivka and Chulakivka are both located on the southeastern side of the Dnieper River in the Russian-occupied part of Kherson region.
On Tuesday, a funeral service held in the Russian city of Samara for the soldiers killed in the attack was used as a pro-war rally by pro-Kremlin groups.
"We are crushing the enemy," said one of the speakers, the wife of a general, in comments to local media. Some 500 people gathered at the event, the report said.
Images show the artillery strike destroyed the building.
There was criticism on Russian social networks of the country's own military leadership, which accommodated the soldiers in a very confined space that was close to where weapons and ammunition were being stored.
Meanwhile, British military experts say it is unlikely that Russia will achieve a major breakthrough near the embattled Ukrainian town of Bakhmut in the coming weeks.
The Ukrainian troops had strengthened their positions, the Defense Ministry wrote in a daily intelligence update on Tuesday.
According to the update, Russian attacks have recently eased — after reaching a temporary peak in mid-December. "Both sides have suffered high casualties," the report said.
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(Correspondent André Ballin contributed to this report.)
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