Soldiers’ mobile phones led to deadly missile strike: Russia

The memorial Eternal flame and flowers laid in memory of more than 60 Russian soldiers that Russia said on Tuesdaywere killed. Pic/AFP

Unauthorised use of mobile phones by Russian soldiers led to a deadly Ukrainian rocket attack on the facility where they were stationed, the Russian military said late Tuesday, raising the death toll from the weekend attack to 89.

Gen. Lt. Sergei Sevryukov said in a statement that phone signals allowed Kyiv's forces to "determine the coordinates of the location of military personnel" and launch a strike. Sevryukov said unspecified measures were being taken to "prevent similar tragic incidents in the future" and promised to punish officials responsible for the infraction.

The attack, one of the deadliest on the Kremlin's forces since the start of the war over 10 months ago, occurred one minute into the new year, according to Sevryukov.

Also Read: Ukrainian rocket kills 63 Russian soldiers, claims Russia's defence ministry

Ukrainian forces fired six rockets from a US-provided HIMARS multiple launch system at a building "in the area of Makiivka" where the soldiers were stationed. Two rockets were downed but four hit the building and detonated, prompting the collapse of the structure. The Russian Defence Ministry initially said the strike killed 63 troops. But as emergency crews sifted through the rubble of the building, the death toll has grown to 89, Sevryukov said on Tuesday. The regiment's deputy commander was among the dead.

The Strategic Communications Directorate of Ukraine's armed forces claimed Sunday that around 400 mobilised Russian soldiers were killed in a vocational school building in Makiivka and about 300 more were wounded.

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