Russia has claimed its worst military loss since the Ukrainian offensive with at least 63 soldiers killed in Makiivka in eastern Ukraine on New Year’s Day.
Here’s what we know about the strike:
What happened in Makiivka?
The Russian defense ministry has announced in a rare announcement that 63 Russian soldiers were killed in an attack carried out using the Himars rocket system supplied by the United States to Ukraine.
The attack took place in Makiivka, a small town in the Donetsk region in a part of Ukraine that has been under the control of pro-Russian separatists since the start of the conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov did not give a date for the attack, but said four missiles had struck a “temporary deployment center”.
Another rocket was shot down, he said.
It was the biggest loss in a single attack that Moscow had suffered since the invasion in February.
It was also the first communication on military deaths since September when Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu gave a toll of 5,937 soldiers killed.
What do Ukrainians say?
Ukraine on Monday claimed responsibility for the attack and said it happened on December 31 during a wave of Russian attacks on Ukrainian targets.
The Ukrainian army’s strategic communications department said nearly 400 soldiers were killed and 300 wounded in the attack on Makiivka.
But the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said there were no final casualties and only announced that “up to 10 units of enemy military equipment” had been destroyed.
Why are so many dead?
The Russian army gave no reason for the high number of casualties. Ukrainian forces said only that there was a “concentration” of soldiers in Makiivka.
Russian and Ukrainian sources began reporting the attack on Sunday, saying Russian mobilization personnel – not professional soldiers – had been killed.
A source from the separatist authorities told the Russian state news agency TASS that the Ukrainians have been able to accurately target buildings because of “to be spread by the military that has just arrived from mobile phones”.
Former separatist commander Igor Strelkov, who is familiar with the situation on the ground, said the building was “almost completely” destroyed because ammunition stored there exploded in the attack.
He said “hundreds” had been killed and injured.
What was the reaction in Russia?
The announcement of the defeat caused shockwaves in Russia as well as criticism of the Russian high command, which has been rocked by several battlefield reversals in recent months.
“Despite months of war, some conclusions are still not made,” wrote blogger Boris Rozhin, who is close to the separatists, criticizing the “incompetence” of the Russian high command.
Alexander Kots, a war correspondent, wrote: “Why do we continue to put (mobilized personnel) in hotels, hostels and professional schools?”.
Strelkov said another deadly attack could happen “at any moment”, adding that Russian generals “can’t learn”.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War predicts the Russian defense ministry will try to “blame poor operational security mistakes” on local officials and mobilized personnel.
In a rare public commemoration, around 200 people gathered in the Russian city of Samara – where some of the victims are from – to remember the dead.
Mourners laid flowers at the city monument, an Orthodox priest read a prayer for the dead and soldiers fired a gun salute.