Makiivka toll raised to 89, with a blame on mobile phones
A look back at the Russian defence ministry's revised casualty figure for the New Year strike on soldiers' quarters in Donetsk Oblast.
What did Moscow say about the soldiers killed in Makiivka, and how did its account change? On 4 January 2023, the picture was still shifting, a day after the Russian defence ministry raised its death toll from the strike to 89.
The attack hit military quarters in Makiivka, Donetsk Oblast, during the night of 31 December 2022 and 1 January 2023. It was a rocket strike by Ukrainian Ground Forces on the building of Professional Technical School No. 19, carried out with HIMARS rockets. The building was destroyed, as was nearby military equipment.
The figures differed sharply. Ukrainian officials claimed that 400 Russian troops had been killed. Russian officials first confirmed 63 dead, then raised that number to 89 two days later, the revision announced on 3 January.
The ministry also offered an explanation for the casualties. It attributed them to the soldiers' use of mobile phones with tracking systems. That was the Russian account as announced on 3 January 2023, set against Kyiv's far higher claim.
