Use of cellphone by soldiers led to Ukraine strike: Russia

Kyiv, January 4

Unauthorised use of cell phones by Russian soldiers led to a deadly Ukrainian rocket attack on the facility where they were stationed, according to the Russian Military, as it raised the death toll in the attack to 89.

General lieutenant Sergei Sevryukov said that phone signals allowed Kyiv’s forces to “determine the coordinates of the location of military personnel” and launch a strike.

The Russian Military is taking unspecified measures to “prevent similar tragic incidents in the future,” Sevryukov said, and promised to punish officials responsible for the blunder.

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.

It was the latest blow to the Kremlin’s military prestige as it struggles to progress with its invasion of its neighbour, and stirred renewed criticism inside Russia of the way the war is being conducted amid a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Ukrainian forces fired six rockets from a US-provided HIMARS multiple launch system at a building 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, in a rare admission of losses, initially said the strike killed 63 troops. But as emergency crews shifted through the rubble of the building, the death toll mounted. The regiment’s deputy commander was among the dead.

Unconfirmed reports put the death toll much higher.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Presidential office said that at least five Ukrainian civilians were killed and 13 others were wounded in the country over the previous 24 hours, as Russian forces struck at nine regions in the country. — AP

85% Ukrainians oppose territorial concessions

• 85 per cent Ukrainians opposed territorial concessions to Russia according to a survey released by a Kyiv-based pollster
• The poll was conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology last year in Ukraine except Russian-occupied areas