Russian Military Says Phone Use Allowed Ukraine to Track and Target Troops in Missile Attack

Workers and emergencies' ministry members remove debris of a destroyed building purported to be a vocational college used as temporary accommodation for Russian soldiers, 63 of whom were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike as stated the previous day by Russia's Defense Ministry, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Makiivka (Makeyevka), Russian-controlled Ukraine, on Jan. 3, 2023. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

Moscow said that phone use allowed Ukrainians to target its troops in a recent missile attack just after the start of New Year’s Day.

Russia’s military leadership have come under increasing scrutiny, as more details emerged of how almost 90 Russian soldiers, and potentially more, were killed after a Ukrainian rocket attack on a vocational school used as a temporary barracks.

More bodies have been pulled from the rubble in one of the deadliest single attacks on Russia’s armed forces since the war began in late February last year.

The death toll has now grown to 89 soldiers, including the unit’s deputy commander, announced the Russian Defense Ministry’s latest report on Jan. 4.

Hundreds of Russian soldiers were temporarily stationed in the school close to the front line in Makiivka, in the disputed Donbass region, when the missile hit last weekend.

The building was only 7.5 miles from the front line in “one of the most intensely contested areas of the conflict,” said the UK Ministry of Defense in a tweet.

The decision to house massive numbers of troops clustered in a single building and within range of Western assisted Ukrainian artillery fire has been considered by many to be a tragic mistake by Russia’s army.

There were unconfirmed reports in Russian-language media that the casualties were mobilized reservists from the region of Samara in southwestern Russia.

US Made Rockets Likely Used in Strike

It appears that American-supplied HIMARS guided artillery rockets were used in the attack, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

The Kremlin said that the barracks were targeted by six missiles from the U.S.-designed multiple rocket launcher, of which four penetrated Russia’s air defenses, hitting their target at 12:01 am on Jan. 1, RT reported.

The Russians claim they have since destroyed the rocket artillery launcher used in the attack.

The quarters were possibly sitting close to an ammunition store, making it easier for Kyiv’s forces to spot them.

“Given the extent of the damage, there is a realistic possibility that ammunition was being stored near to troop accommodation, which detonated during the strike, creating secondary explosions,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said.

Ukrainian officials claimed that around 400 Russian soldiers were killed in the Makiivka missile strike, with about 300 wounded.

However, it is not possible at this time to verify either side’s claims regarding casualties for this incident.

Russians Accuse Western Intelligence of Providing Targeting Guidance to Ukrainian Forces

Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Sevryukov stated on Jan. 3 that the phone signals of Russian conscripts housed in the building allowed the Ukrainians and Western intelligence to trace the “coordinates of the location of military personnel” and launch the fatal strike.

Despite an ongoing official investigation, it is “already obvious that the main reason for what happened was the turning on and mass use of mobile phones by personnel—contrary to the ban—within the range of enemy weapons,” Sevryukov said.

The Kremlin has forbidden Russian soldiers on active duty from using civilian issued mobile phones, due to past experience in recent years of them being used to target troop positions by military intelligence on both sides of the conflict.

It is “very hard to verify” whether smartphone signaling and geolocation tracking were to blame for the accurate strike, according to Emily Ferris, a Research Fellow on Russia and Eurasia at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

Ferris also warned that “there should be a bit of caution around leaning too heavily on this (attack) as a sign of (the) Russian army’s weakness.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned Washington after the incident, for not only supplying sophisticated weapons like the HIMARS to Ukraine, but by also providing real-time intelligence to determine the location of the Russian forces, RT reported.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin remotely took part in a sending-off ceremony on Jan. 4 for a Russian navy frigate equipped with the latest hypersonic missiles.

Putin announced that the ship was carrying the new Zircon missiles, which are allegedly capable of flying at nine times the speed of sound and a range of 620 miles, and would be almost impossible to intercept.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.