Moscow revises Makiivka death toll to 89
Russia’s defence ministry on Wednesday blamed the illegal use of mobile phones by its soldiers for a deadly Ukrainian missile strike that it said killed 89 servicemen, raising the reported death toll significantly.
Moscow previously said 63 Russian soldiers were killed in the weekend strike. The ministry’s reaction came amid mounting anger among some Russian commentators, who are increasingly vocal about what they see as a half-hearted campaign in Ukraine.
Most of the anger on social media was directed at military commanders rather than Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has not commented publicly on the attack which was another blow after major battlefield retreats in recent months.
The Russian defence ministry said four Ukrainian missiles hit a temporary Russian barracks in a vocational college in Makiivka, twin city of the Russian-occupied regional capital of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Although an official probe has been launched, the main reason for the attack was clearly the illegal mass use of mobile phones by servicemen, the ministry said.
“This factor allowed the enemy to track and determine the coordinates of the soldiers’ location for a missile strike,” it said in a statement issued just after 1:00 am in Moscow on Wednesday.
Key events
Summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest news for the next while.
Russia’s defence ministry has acknowledged that 89 servicemen died in a Ukrainian strike on Makiivka in Eastern Ukraine on New Year’s Eve, an increase in the previous reported death toll. Military officials have blamed the use of mobile phones by Russian soldiers within “reach of enemy soldiers,” for the deadly attack.
Moscow previously said 63 Russian soldiers were killed in the weekend strike.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address late on Tuesday that Russia was set to launch a major offensive, repeating earlier warnings.
“We have no doubt that current masters of Russia will throw everything they have left and everyone they can round up to try to turn the tide of the war and at least delay their defeat,” Zelenskiy said.
Here are the other key recent developments:
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The Ukrainian strike on Makiivka has generated “significant criticism of Russian military leadership”, according to a report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Several prominent Russian pro-war bloggers and commentators acknowledged the attack, with many suggesting the number of casualties was higher than the figures officially reported.
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The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces has said up to 10 units of Russian military equipment of various types in occupied Makiivka were damaged or destroyed. Ukraine rarely announces responsibility for attacks on Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine, but its military reported the Makiivka attack as “a strike on Russian manpower and military equipment”.
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Satellite images taken by the US-based company Planet Labs that purportedly show the aftermath of the strike on Makiivka have circulated online, showing the building that allegedly housed the Russian troops before and after it was hit. The images, dated 2 January, show a building almost completely razed. Unverified footage posted online of the aftermath of the blast also showed a huge building reduced to smoking rubble.
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The UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, reaffirmed support for Ukraine during a call with Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The two men discussed further defence cooperation, their statements said.
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On national television in Ukraine, Yuriy Ignat, spokesperson for the Ukraine air force, said nearly 500 Russian drones have been downed since September.
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It is unlikely Russia will achieve a significant breakthrough near Bakhmut in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region in the coming weeks, the UK Ministry of Defence has said. This is due in part to Russia likely conducting offensive operations in the area at only platoon or section level, it said.
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The French prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, has said she is more confident over the situation of French energy supplies for the next few weeks. She cited lower consumption and an increase in nuclear power output.
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Nato countries will discuss their defence spending targets in the coming months as some of them call for turning a 2% target into a minimum figure, the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, told the German news agency DPA.
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Ukraine and the EU will hold a summit in Kyiv on 3 February to discuss financial and military support, Zelenskiy’s office has said.