Russia on Monday said more than 60 soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian attack on Russian-held territory in the New Year offensive, the biggest casualty reported by Moscow so far.
Kyiv took responsibility for the attack which it said took place in the occupied city of Makiivka in eastern Ukraine on New Year’s Eve.
In a rare announcement after criticism from Russian military correspondents, the defense ministry in Moscow said 63 Russian soldiers were killed “as a result of an attack by four missiles” in Makiivka.
It was the heaviest loss reported by Russia’s defense ministry so far in the long-running conflict since President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces to attack on February 24 last year.
The Russian ministry said the US-supplied Himars rocket system had been used and that the target was a temporary deployment point.
Late on Monday, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said in a statement that its forces were behind the attack in Makiivka.
“Up to 10 units of enemy military equipment of various types were destroyed and damaged,” the general staff said.
Earlier in the day, the strategic communications department of the Ukrainian armed forces said that almost 400 Russian troops were killed in Makiivka.
The public staff, which usually communicates about the incident, did not confirm the figure and said that the human “damage” was still being done.
Russian war correspondents, who have gained influence in recent months, say hundreds may have died in the attack on a vocational school in Makiivka and accuse Russia’s top commander of failing to learn from past mistakes.
Former Russian separatist leader Igor Strelkov said the troops, mostly made up of mobilized Russians, were stationed in an unprotected building that was “almost completely” destroyed because ammunition stored there exploded in the attack.
He said “hundreds” had been killed and injured.
“Ten months into the war it is dangerous and criminal to consider a stupid enemy who does not see anything,” said Andrei Medvedev, deputy speaker of the Moscow city legislature.
The governor of Samara, Dmitry Azarov, said that among the victims were residents of his region, adding that there was a hotline for their relatives.
On social media, some accused the Russian authorities of underestimating the death toll.
“My God, who will believe the figure of 63? The building has been completely destroyed,” wrote one Russian, Nina Vernykh, on the country’s largest social network, VKontakte.
Announcements on social networks called on Russia to collect clothes, medicine and equipment for those who survived the attack.
“All that is wanted remains in the ruins,” the announcement said.
Another announcement said that residents of four cities in the region – Samara, Tolyatti, Syzran and Novokuibyshevsk – would gather on Tuesday to mourn the loss of the troops.
Explosion in Kiev
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the country’s forces had shot down more than 80 drones since the start of 2023.
“In the near future, this number may increase,” he said.
He also said it was important to increase “the costs of new mobilization and all-out war for terrorist states”.
Russian attacks on Ukraine on New Year’s Eve and New Year killed at least five people and wounded dozens.
Kyiv was again attacked from Iranian-made drones on Monday, although Ukrainian forces claimed the majority of the shots were fired by air defenses.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported an explosion in northeastern Kyiv and said emergency services were being dispatched.
“The injured 19-year-old man is being treated at a hospital in the capital’s Desnyanskyi district,” he said.
On Monday afternoon, the head of the Kharkiv region Oleg Synegubov said that Ukraine’s second largest city and the surrounding area were again attacked by Russian missiles.
“Critical infrastructure has been targeted,” he wrote.
General Valery Zaluzhny, the Commander of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, said the army had now liberated “40 percent of the territory occupied after February 24”.
‘It’s so hard’
After suffering a humiliating battlefield defeat, Moscow began targeting electricity and other critical infrastructure in October.
The attack caused sweeping blackouts that cut water and heating supplies to civilians as temperatures in some areas dropped below freezing.
The UN human rights chief has warned the campaign has inflicted “extreme hardship” on the Ukrainians and decried the possibility of war crimes by Russian forces.
Moscow said the New Year attack had targeted the pro-Western country’s drone production.
Russia has accused Ukraine of targeting domestic military sites and infrastructure in recent weeks.
On Monday evening, Mikhail Razvozzhayev, the governor of the Crimean port of Sevastopol, said that two drones had been shot down over the Black Sea.
Earlier today, Russian officials said a Ukrainian drone struck an energy facility in neighboring Ukraine’s southwestern Bryansk region. Authorities in the southwestern region of Voronezh said a Ukrainian surveillance drone was shot down.