'Unprofessional' Practices Contribute To High Russian Casualty Rate, UK Intelligence Says
A view of a burned out car as the Ukraine war continues.
Dozens of Russian military personnel were killed after Ukraine bombed a school building which Russia had “almost certainly” taken over for military use, according to the U.K. Ministry of Defense.
Moscow confirmed that 89 of their troops died following the New Year’s Eve strike in the Russian-held town of Makiyivka near the Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
In their latest intelligence report on the Ukraine war, the MoD said the high number of casualties was probably caused by ammunition being stored near to troop accommodation.
“The Russian military has a record of unsafe ammunition storage from well before the current war, but this incident highlights how unprofessional practices contribute to Russia’s high casualty rate,” the MoD said.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 04 January 2023
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/sTvI8nDoqa
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/hxvMq4spju— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) January 4, 2023
Russia blamed unauthorized use of cell phones by their soldiers for the attack. The phone signals allowed Ukrainian forces to “determine the coordinates of the location of military personnel,” the Russian military said in a statement late Tuesday.
The strike, and resulting loss of life, is a massive blow to Vladimir Putin as the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches.
The day before the attack, U.K. intelligence said the “continued churn” of senior military figures in the Russian army is an indication of the military’s internal struggles.
The Russian president also recently made a rare admission that the war was not going to plan.
Speaking to security workers in a video address, he acknowledged the ongoing situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions – two of the four Ukrainian areas Russia has illegally annexed – is “extremely difficult.”
Moscow is said to have lost up to 100,000 troops throughout the war, with remaining soldiers running low on morale and basic supplies.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the U.K.’s chief of defense staff, also predicted in mid-December that the war will only “get worse for Russia” as the “cupboard is bare.”
