'Mobilized' Elite Killed: Recent Information Concerning Defeat In Makiivka

This defeat shocked Russia.

The destruction of hundreds of mobilized occupiers in Makiivka, Donetsk region, on New Year's Eve was a shock to Russia. Even the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, which usually denies any losses, was forced to admit 89 dead as a result of the HIMARS MLRS strike. Russian ‘war correspondents’, controlled by Sergei Shoigu’s department, are already looking for guilty parties and are trying to justify the top leadership of the army with might and main.

According to experts, the mistake of the Russian military command hit hard on the authority of President Vladimir Putin, who traditionally decided not to notice big losses. The TSN news publisher has collected the latest data from analysts about the events in Makiivka.

Reserve major-general Viktor Yagun of the Security Service of Ukraine expressed the opinion on the air of the “Freeдом” channel that the killing of the "mobics" in Makiivka hit Russian President Vladimir Putin personally.

“For them, the number of dead is not of great importance, the problem is different. As a rule, they did not recognize such large losses, and Makiivka became the first such point, which, due to the fact that there was a very big noise on the media scene because their so-called ‘war correspondents’ reported about it. It’s strange, however, it hit Putin first of all. For the first time, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation officially recognized the strikes, and for the first time named some approximate figures of the dead. For the first time, Putin admitted that something like this had happened. He ordered some pseudo-investigation to find guilty parties and to understand the reasons,” Yagun emphasized.

Commenting on the reaction of the Russians to the death of the mobilized soldiers, the SBU general noted:

“I think there will be a long-term effect. But the fact that this information penetrated Russian society was a strong blow to one of the regions. Information began to reach people that their relatives had gone. Everyone was angered by the official propagandists, who began to talk about the fact that life is short and one must be prepared for death... I believe that rumours will have a greater effect.

Yagun noted that the Russian authorities are frightened:

“Most of all, the Russian authorities are not afraid of opposition politicians, there are almost no such politicians. They were either jailed, or recruited, or they left. They are afraid of civil protests. First of all, these are the wives and mothers of those who died, who do not understand what they are doing in Ukraine.”

Shoigu was found guilty

Analysts at the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) are convinced that the Russian Defence Ministry is probably trying to shift the blame for the failure to DPR officials and mobilized Russians.

“The DPR law enforcement officials told Russian state TV channels that the strike occurred when Russian military personnel breached operational security using personal mobile phones, allowing Ukrainian forces to deliver a precision strike against the base. Kremlin-oriented media and some bloggers reinforced this claim by emphasizing that Russian troops should not underestimate Ukraine’s ability to exploit poor operational security practices at the front, and some DPR officials called for punishment of an official who decided to use the premises of the educational institution the mobilized troops' deployment,” the ISW writes.

“The Russian Ministry of Defence may have deliberately relied on DPR officials, who accused the mobilized military personnel of violating operational security, in order to make the DPR a responsible party,” analysts are sure.

Military expert Oleg Zhdanov, in turn, noted that the Russian MoD's version of mobile phones raises questions.

"This is real. We constantly publish the interceptions of the military. The only thing is that I have a technical question, because Makiivka is not on the front line. It is far enough away, and we hardly have the opportunity to intercept conversations at such a distance. Although modern means of conducting intelligence allow, when such a large number of calls are made from compactly located Russian numbers. Yes, if it was possible to get triangulation from mobile communication towers, then we realized that there is a concentration of mobile phones. But, most likely, intelligence did it,” he said.

Occupiers made a strategic mistake

The speaker of the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhiy Cherevaty, said on the air of the ‘Freeдом’ channel that it was not the first time that the Ukrainian military ‘covered’ large concentrations of the Russian military in Makiivka.

“Our high-precision weapons are hunting every night, they are destroying their depots, logistics, command posts and a large concentration of personnel with accurate shots. This is not the first time in Makiivka when they, having discovered certain negligence, having placed a large number of mobilized people, immediately received a blow,” Cherevaty said.

The head of the Center for Military Legal Research, Oleksandr Musienko, noted that the military of the Russian Federation continues to repeat the old mistakes, gathering in huge groups.

“This number is equal to the battalion tactical group, it will all be put out of action and its combat capability will be reduced. At least 10 military vehicles were also destroyed there. So, of course, strategically, this is a mistake of the Russian military command, but it benefits us,” he said.

Musienko says that in addition to Russia's mistake, it was also the reconnaissance of the Ukrainian military - the Armed Forces of Ukraine established the location of the occupiers and accurately hit the target.

The military observer recalled that occupiers suffered similar huge losses in the summer of 2022 during the assault on the Sieversky Donets River near Belohorivka in the Luhansk region. Then they also lost an entire battalion-tactical group and a lot of equipment.

Military analyst Oleksiy Hetman expressed the same opinion. According to him, the military leadership of the occupiers made a mistake by placing a large number of those mobilized on the New Year holidays in the re-equipped dormitories in Makiivka. Since orders are not discussed but carried out in the Russian army, this had such consequences.

“I am sure that this person who gave the order was informed by subordinates who understand military affairs that this is not okay. But the Russian military are still forcefully fulfilling even wrong orders,” the expert notes.

'Mobilized' elite were killed in Makiivka

Defense Express military expert Ivan Kirichevsky said that the Russians consider Makiivka a deep rear base, so communications specialists and other important military specialties were deployed there.

“They were supposed to become the basis of the grouping of troops in the east of Ukraine. These were “elite” mobilized soldiers who were trained,” the expert noted.

Kirichevsky also stressed that the Russians did not expect this object to be hit at all.

“They admit that they did not expect at all that the Armed Forces of Ukraine could strike at this military facility,” the military expert explained.

The AFU strike on Makiivka: reference

On the night of January 1, exactly at midnight, the HIMARS MLRS attack destroyed the building of the former voc-tech school in the occupied Makiivka. Mobilized soldiers of the Russian army were there.

According to preliminary data, up to 600 ‘mobics’ from the Samara region of the Russian Federation could be in the building. In addition, military equipment and detonated ammunition were spotted on the territory of the voc-tech school. According to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, up to 10 enemy military vehicles of various types were destroyed and damaged in Makiivka.

Officially, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation recognized the death of 89 mobilized soldiers in Makiivka.

Russian propagandists, citing the ‘law enforcement agencies’ of the so-called DPR, began to disseminate information that the ‘mobilized’ themselves are to blame for what happened. They allegedly disclosed themselves due to the active use of mobile phones.