Ukraine Launches US-Given HIMARS Rocket Attack, Russia Admits 63 Soldiers Killed in Donetsk

Illustration of the Russian military in Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/Mil.ru)

JAKARTA - Russia has admitted that 63 of its soldiers were killed in a New Year's Eve attack carried out by Ukraine, sparking strong criticism of the military leadership from various quarters.

Footage posted online showed a building purported to be a vocational school in Makiivka, a town in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine's Donetsk Province, reduced to rubble.

Daniil Bezsonov, a senior Russian-backed regional official, said the college had been hit by a US-made HIMARS rocket around midnight.

Four rockets fired from US-made HIMARS launchers hit the site, the Ministry of Defense said. It said two rockets had been shot down. Ukraine says the death toll in Russia is as high as 400, although pro-Russian officials say this is an exaggeration.

The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged the attack only in the last paragraph of its 528-word daily summary, more than 36 hours later.

The attack drew criticism and outrage from Russian lawmakers on Monday. Even so, pro-war bloggers also criticized, assessing that apart from failing to protect their soldiers, the placement of soldiers in large numbers in one building with ammunition storage was also criticized.

Illustration of Russian soldiers in Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/Mil.ru/неизвестен)

Grigory Karasin, a member of the Russian Senate and former deputy foreign minister, demands not only retaliation against Ukraine and the Western NATO alliance, whose members have armed it, but also a "thorough internal analysis".

Meanwhile, Sergei Mironov, a legislator and former chairman of the Senate, Russia's upper house, is seeking criminal responsibility for officials who "allow the concentration of military personnel in unprotected buildings" and "all higher authorities who do not provide a proper level of security." 

"Clearly neither intelligence nor counterintelligence or air defense is functioning properly," he said in a post on Telegram, citing Reuters, January 3.

Separately, Russian military bloggers said the massive destruction was the result of ammunition being stored in the same building as the barracks, even though commanders knew it was within range of Ukrainian rockets.

A pro-war blogger known as Rybar, with more than a million followers on Telegram, said that, apart from around 70 people confirmed dead, more than 100 people were injured. He said about 600 people were in the building.

Igor Girkin, a former commander of pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine who has become a critic of the Russian military, said on Telegram that there were "hundreds" of people killed and injured.

Like Rybar, he said ammunition had been stashed at the college, potentially causing extreme devastation, and that the military presence was not being disguised.

Meanwhile, Archangel Spetznaz Z, another Russian military blogger with more than 700.000 followers on Telegram, wrote:

"Who came up with the idea of ​​placing such a large number of personnel in one building, where even a fool would understand that even if they attacked with artillery, there would be many wounded or killed?"

Commanders "don't care" about ammunition being cluttered on the battlefield, he said.

A source close to the Russian-installed Donetsk leadership told Reuters the building had hosted some 300.000 or more troops who were mobilized since September.

Many have been sent to the front to support the 10-month campaign, during which Russia has been driven out of much of the Ukraine it has captured and forced to replace many of its senior commanders.

The fact that so many of those killed were not volunteer soldiers is likely to infuriate relatives and some ordinary Russians whom President Vladimir Putin has asked in New Year's speeches for support and sacrifices in the months to come.

Samara-based news outlet 63.Ru, citing regional governor Dmitry Azarov as saying some of those killed were from his region, advising concerned relatives to contact local recruitment centers for information.