The Makiivka massacre, caused by a Ukrainian strike with the worst casualties in a single attack on Russian forces recognized by Moscow since the invasion began in February 2022, drew criticism from the top Russian propaganda led by Margarita Simonyan.

The head of the RT channel, the head of international propaganda of the Kremlin, Margarita Simonyan, demanded to make public the names of the Russian officers involved in the disaster that led to the death of hundreds of Russians in Makiivka, and to take “measures”. their duties”.

“It is time to understand that impunity does not lead to social harmony. Impunity leads to new crimes. And therefore, to public dissent,” she wrote in Telegram, reports AFP.

Margarita Simonyan’s reaction came after the Ministry of Defense of Moscow announced on Tuesday evening that the main cause of the tragedy near Makiivka was the mass use of mobile phones by personnel.

The main cause of the tragedy in Makiivka was the mass use of mobile phones by the staff, despite the ban. This factor allowed the enemy to locate and establish the coordinates of the location of the servicemen to launch a missile strike,” said the statement of the Ministry of Defense of Moscow, published on Tuesday evening with reference to one of the Russian state’s RIA Novosti news agencies.

The leader of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” praised the bravery of Russian soldiers killed in a Ukrainian strike on the occupied city of Makiivka on Wednesday, even though the Russian Defense Ministry said the “main cause” of the attack was its soldiers using their mobile phones.

“We know from our own experience what it means to suffer losses. Based on the information that I have, I can say with confidence that there were many displays of courage and true heroism by the boys of this regiment!”, said Denys Pusilin in Telegram.

Many Russians on social networks called for a transparent investigation into the circumstances of the attack. “They will train, and in the worst case they will leave for someone else,” says Valery Butorin on the VKontakte network.

“It’s not the mobile phones and their owners that are to blame, but the everyday carelessness of the bosses, who, I’m sure, didn’t even try to get the personnel” out of the building, criticized the “Veteran’s Notes” group on Telegram, which has 200,000 subscribers.

What is known about the HIMARS attack on the Russian facility in Makiivka

According to the Russian military, this attack was carried out with the help of Khymars missile systems, a weapon that the United States supplies to Ukraine and which makes it possible to strike far behind enemy lines.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday appeared to blame the soldiers themselves for the Ukrainian attack, saying that the “main cause” of the incident was the widespread use of mobile phones by Russian soldiers, “in defiance of the ban”, allowing Ukraine to determine the coordinates of the soldiers’ locations. Russia also revised its estimate of military deaths from 63 to 89.

The Ukrainian military said that around 400 Russian soldiers were killed in the attack, but later added that this figure was “being verified”.

The spokesman of the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhii Tserevatii, said that “using phones with geolocation is a mistake. But it’s clear that this version looks a little funny.”

Cherewati said that “placing such large groups of newly mobilized people — that is, not very trained, not very well coordinated — in large facilities that are not suitable for shelter in case of danger is a very weak justification.”

“Of course, this is a mistake [a rușilor] and I think they are now looking for the culprit. They blame each other,” he continued.

“Of course it is [utilizare a telefoanelor] it was not the main reason. The main reason was that they could not covertly deploy these personnel. And we took advantage of this, having identified the target, destroyed it,” Cherevaty added.

On Tuesday, the first stories of survivors and their relatives in Russia began to appear on social networks. Some of the soldiers who managed to escape from the building said that the remains of their comrades should be identified through DNA testing after their bodies. were shattered by explosions.