Russia’s Ministry of Defence confirms death of 63 Russian servicemen in missile strike on Makiivka

2 January 2023, 13:19 GMT

The Russian Ministry of Defence has confirmed that 63 Russian servicemen had been killed in a missile strike carried out by Ukraine’s Armed Forces on the city of Makiivka, located in the part of the Donetsk region occupied by the self-proclaimed Donetsk “people’s republic” (“DPR”). The corresponding statement was posted on the ministry’s official Telegram channel.

According to the Russian ministry, the strike was carried out “with 6 rocket-propelled projectiles by U.S.-manufactured HIMARS MLRS at the provisional base of a unit of the Russian Armed Forces near” Makiivka.

“Russian air defence facilities have shot down 2 HIMARS projectiles. Families and friends of [killed] servicemen will be fully assisted and supported,” the ministry says in a statement.

The defence ministry did not clarify whether the killed soldiers were mobilised servicemen and what divisions they served in.

update 7:02 pm

Among the servicemen killed in the missile strike on the city of Makiivka are residents of Russia’s Samara region, local governor Dmitry Azarov says.
“Our fellow countrymen ended up under enemy’s fire, too. Some were injured and, unfortunately, some were killed. As of now, there are still updates to come,” Azarov reports.
The wife of one of the mobilised soldiers from the Samara region told local outlet 7X7 that, after the strike, the injured had been taken to hospitals, one of them in the Rostov region of Russia.
“My husband sent me a short message, that he was alive and okay. Other guys called, they’re walking out there naked. Those who survived [are walking around] in slippers. There’s nothing there: no clothes, no medication, no money, no food… Absolute horror,” she said.
Russian “war correspondents” previously reported that mobilised soldiers from the Saratov region had been killed in a strike on Makiivka.
Residents of the Saratov region of Russia are demanding their governor “tell the truth” about what happened to the mobilised soldiers from their region, 7x7 notes.

Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported earlier in the day that a missile strike had been carried out on the city of Makiivka and a college building was destroyed in the attack. Russian servicemen were inside the building, according to the Department of Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to the Ukrainian agency, around 400 people were killed in the strike, while around 300 were injured. However, Russia’s state news agency TASS reported, citing the “representative office” of the “DPR”, that 15 people had been injured in the attack.

Ukrainian media and Russian “war correspondents” previously reported that mobilised Russian servicemen had been stationed in the destroyed building.