Russia mourns victims of Ukraine strike
Published: 05:01 PM,Jan 03,2023 | EDITED : 08:01 PM,Jan 03,2023
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SAMARA: Mourners voiced grief and anger on Tuesday at a rare public commemoration in Russia for the scores of soldiers killed by a Ukrainian strike on New Year’s Eve.
Admitting its worst ever military losses from a single Ukrainian attack, Russia on Monday said 63 servicemen were killed when a temporary deployment point was struck in Makiivka, a town in the eastern region of Donetsk partially held by separatists since 2014.
Ukraine has taken responsibility for the strike and says the toll could be much higher. Russian bloggers say that many of the victims were reservists who were recently mobilised into the army.
Some 200 people laid roses and wreaths in a central square in the city of Samara -- where some of the servicemen came from -- as an Orthodox priest recited a prayer.
Soldiers also fired a gun salute at the commemoration, where some of the mourners could be seen holding flags for the ruling United Russia party.
“It’s very tough, it’s scary. But we cannot be broken. Grief unites,” Ekaterina Kolotovkina, head of a group of army spouses, said at the ceremony.
Similar gatherings were reported in other cities of the Samara region including Tolyatti, home to Russia’s largest carmaker AvtoVAZ.
The deaths immediately sparked heavy criticism in Russia of the army’s senior command, including from nationalist commentators favourable to Russia’s military intervention.
Russian military correspondents, who have gained influence in recent months, said hundreds could have been killed and accused Russia’s top commanders of incompetence.
There have also been reports that the servicemen were quartered next to a munitions depot which exploded in the strike and that some had been able to use their Russian mobile phones — giving away their location to Ukrainian forces.
“What conclusions will be drawn? Who will be punished?” Mikhail Matveyev, a member of the Russian parliament representing Samara, wrote on social media.
The Telegram account Rybar, which has around a million followers, said it was “criminally naive” for the army to store ammunition next to sleeping quarters. Russian President Vladimir Putin had yet to react to the Makiivka strike, which comes during a holiday season before Orthodox Christmas which many Russians spend with their families.
At the gathering in Samara, Kolotovkina, the wife of a general, said she had asked her husband to “avenge” the victims.“We will crush the enemy together. We are left with no choice,” she told mourners.
— AFP
Admitting its worst ever military losses from a single Ukrainian attack, Russia on Monday said 63 servicemen were killed when a temporary deployment point was struck in Makiivka, a town in the eastern region of Donetsk partially held by separatists since 2014.
Ukraine has taken responsibility for the strike and says the toll could be much higher. Russian bloggers say that many of the victims were reservists who were recently mobilised into the army.
Some 200 people laid roses and wreaths in a central square in the city of Samara -- where some of the servicemen came from -- as an Orthodox priest recited a prayer.
Soldiers also fired a gun salute at the commemoration, where some of the mourners could be seen holding flags for the ruling United Russia party.
“It’s very tough, it’s scary. But we cannot be broken. Grief unites,” Ekaterina Kolotovkina, head of a group of army spouses, said at the ceremony.
Similar gatherings were reported in other cities of the Samara region including Tolyatti, home to Russia’s largest carmaker AvtoVAZ.
The deaths immediately sparked heavy criticism in Russia of the army’s senior command, including from nationalist commentators favourable to Russia’s military intervention.
Russian military correspondents, who have gained influence in recent months, said hundreds could have been killed and accused Russia’s top commanders of incompetence.
There have also been reports that the servicemen were quartered next to a munitions depot which exploded in the strike and that some had been able to use their Russian mobile phones — giving away their location to Ukrainian forces.
“What conclusions will be drawn? Who will be punished?” Mikhail Matveyev, a member of the Russian parliament representing Samara, wrote on social media.
The Telegram account Rybar, which has around a million followers, said it was “criminally naive” for the army to store ammunition next to sleeping quarters. Russian President Vladimir Putin had yet to react to the Makiivka strike, which comes during a holiday season before Orthodox Christmas which many Russians spend with their families.
At the gathering in Samara, Kolotovkina, the wife of a general, said she had asked her husband to “avenge” the victims.“We will crush the enemy together. We are left with no choice,” she told mourners.
— AFP