Ukrainian armed forces say they did not use cellphones to locate Russian troops in Makiivka attack
Workers remove rubble from a destroyed building that was allegedly a vocational school used as temporary housing for Russian soldiers, dozens of whom were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack, the Russian Defense Ministry earlier stated, in the course of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in Makiivka ( Makeyevka), Russia-controlled Ukraine, January 4, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
The Ukrainian armed forces said on Wednesday that the use of cell phones by Russian troops was not the main reason they located their position in Makiivka, leading to a devastating attack in the eastern Donetsk region.
“Of course, using phones with geolocation is a mistake. But it is clear that this version looks a bit ridiculous,” according to the spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhii Cherevatyi.
The Russian Defense Ministry appeared to blame the soldiers themselves for the Ukrainian attack on Wednesday, saying “the main cause” of the incident was the widespread use of cell phones by Russian soldiers “against the ban,” which it allowed Ukraine to “track and determine the coordinates of the soldiers’ locations.” Russia also revised its estimate of soldiers killed, from 63 to 89.
Cherevatyi said that “deploying such large batches of newly mobilized people, which means they are not very trained, not very coordinated, in large rooms that are not suitable for shelter in case of danger, is a very weak excuse.
“Of course this is wrong. [de los rusos]and I think that now they dedicate themselves to [buscar] Who is guilty. They are blaming each other,” he continued.
“It is clear that this [el uso de teléfonos] it was not the main reason. The main reason was that they were unable to covertly deploy these personnel. And we took advantage of that, detected the target powerfully and destroyed it,” added Cherevatyi.
Four rockets from US-made HIMARS launchers were used in the attack on Makiivka, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
The Ukrainian military has claimed that some 400 Russian soldiers were killed in the attack, but later added that the number was being “clarified”.
CNN cannot independently verify any of the figures.
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