Russians blamed attack on their barracks on banned cell phone use
The Ukrainian Armed Forces successfully struck a vocational building, in Makiivka, that the Russians were using as a barracks. It also appeared that the Russians were using the same building to store ammunition. The Russian government blamed Russian soldiers who used their cell phones despite the ban on soldiers using their cell phones. The Russian government claims that 89 Russian soldiers were killed.
However, the Ukrainians claim that approximately 400 Russian soldiers were killed and hundreds more were wounded. Russians took to Russian social media to criticize Russian military leaders for housing both soldiers and rounds in the same structure.
From Fox News:
Moscow appeared to blame its own troops Wednesday for the deadly strike that hit its military barracks just after midnight on New Year’s Day, saying banned cellphone use alerted Ukrainian forces to the barrack’s location.
The deadliest known assault on Russian forces since the war began occurred at 12:01 a.m. on New Year’s Day in the city of Makiyivka in the hard-fought Donetsk region.
“It has already become obvious at present that the main cause of the occurrence was activation and large-scale use, contrary to the ban, of personal phones by personnel within the reach of enemy’s destruction means,” Lt. Gen. Sergey Sevryukov told Russian media outlets Wednesday. “This factor enabled the enemy to take the bearing and determine coordinates of servicemen location to deliver a missile strike.
“Required measures are being taken at present to exclude such tragic incidents in the future,” he added.
The death toll from the strike on the barracks – located some 50 miles south of Bakhmut where intense warfare has raged for months – has also risen according to the Russian defense ministry.
In an unusual admission of wartime deaths, the toll jumped from 63 soldiers killed in the attack according to the Russian ministry earlier this week to 89 on Wednesday.
Sevryukov told Russian outlets that medical aid was immediately provided but that “regrettably, the death toll of our comrades increased to 89 when removing structural steel debris.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that the regiment’s deputy commander was also killed in the strike.
Ukrainian officials have claimed the strike – which used U.S.-supplied HIMARS to hit the barracks – killed as many as 400 and injured hundreds more, though Fox News Digital could not independently verify these figures.
Sevryukov said an investigation had been opened into the circumstances that allowed for the successful sneak attack in Donetsk.
Fox News has more information on this story here and here. Additionally, the Washington Post addresses criticism, on Russian social media, of the decision to place both troops and ammunition in the same building.
Category: International Affairs, Russia, Ukraine
(Russian barrack briefing)
COMSEC and OPSEC…..don’t scoff, it’s a real thing.
Oops! Too late!
Wait, are these the same nimrods who relied upon the Ukrainian cell network for their comms to work? (Yes, blame Joe talking on his cellphone for having a bunch of stuff in one place until the enemy hit it.)
The aliens in the movie “Independence Day” made the same mistake by using the Earth’s comm satellites instead of their own, much more advanced systems.
True that. So one would think the Russkies would not be so dumb, but…
Russky jouralist says it’s just blame shifting, Ukrainians say Russian OPSEC so bad they didn’t need that:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/war-reporter-decorated-putin-says-170516270.html
WaPo with the “Duh!” story of the day on this:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/unprofessional-practices-contribute-high-russian-093122473.html
It should make for an interesting case on Judge Judy.
Plaintiff Vladimir Putin is suing Defendant Voldodymyr Zelenskyy for damaging 400 cell phones, property damage and mental anguish.
Volodymyr Zelensking is countersuing for invasion of a sovereign nation, war crimes, and keying his car.
If their was a party going on in the barracks, it must have been some blast.
Ba dum chhhhhh
Heard in the dark places of the Pentagon, “Damn the gender, full pronouns ahead, we got the Ruskies where we want them…” as War Pigs and Fairies wear boots by Black Sabbath play in the background.
Now you’ve done it.
After that ended, this video came up YouTube… I defy y’all to remember anything about whatever equipment it is she’s describing:
https://youtu.be/Fvr2w2ZLEzw?t=31
You’re welcome!
Another. On this one you need to play with that arrow button in the top left corner to get the proper view, otherwise all you see is from the camera lense straight ahead.
Those sweater puppies don’t even move — look hard as rocks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTcx0OHehdE
…. you’re really welcome!!
Wow! (Had to physically move cell phone around here.)
Troops and ordnance in the same building? They definitely get an “F” for headwork.
Who is to say it was PVT Snuffylov calling home instead of S-4 Ossifer Dumassapov calling the Weps people to let them know where the resupply points were going to be?
The humanitarian in me has a measure of sympathy for the ill trained/ill equipped cannon fodder that is caught up in this madness. The Gun Bunny in me modestly acknowledges that, once again, Artillery, The King of Battle, is the go to Combat Arm when you want the job done…right.
Don’t forget the vital role that Comm provides. You can talk about us, but you can’t talk without us.
Back in the day, the Marine Corps Communications Electronics School (MCCES) had the motto “The Key To Success In Battle Is Effective Communications”. Who needs fire and maneuver when you can talk about how you are the smartest guy in the Corps, but you’re too stupid to set your alarm clock to make morning formation?
TY, Hack. Being a (Ret) 31E (Field Radio Repairer), that was one of my three most favorite Commo sayings.
One being (for all the DATs & CDATS out there, and you too Gun Bunny), “without us all you got is a 60 ton rolling paperweight”.
The third is, “We don’t communicate and you can’t make us”.
When Hack Stone was attending the SNCO Academy, one of his classmates was a grunt. Tipping a few beers with the classmates, and the grunt said “You know, Stone. I always thought Comm guys were assholes, until I met you.” So Hack replied “No, you are correct, all Comm guys are assholes, and I am the biggest asshole.”
Yep, and who ya gonna call FIRST when da sh^t gits reelz? “Have arty soften ’em up before the assault.” “Call in for arty support.” “Have arty cover the withdrawal.” “Smoke screen, my azz, have arty lay in some Willy Peter.” “Long as arty keeps that ring of steel raining down around our pos, the bad guys can’t get thru.” “Arty will lift fire so the birds can get in.”
No one was disparaging against our talkative Brothers. Being talkative is what got these Russkies in the mess they found themselves in.
Remember, when Bonaparte made mention that God was on the side with the strongest battalions, he was speaking of Artillery Battalions. We also know that the most dangerous Warrior on the field is the FO with a working squawk box.
One of the lessons we were taught in Inf. AIT was that if you have a radio, you have access to all the firepower and support you need. You didn’t need to know radio procedure, FO procedure, or much of anything else; just know how to push that push-to-talk switch, stasy as calm as possible under the circumstances, and say Help! A very useful lesson.
Hey, they are all Russians. As far as I am concerned they are all the enemy and capable of anything in theory. Now in execution, they are akin to a monkey trying to fuck a football.
I remember when the Sovietskis were screwing with us in Vietnam, and remember that saying about payback being a mofo.
A prayer that we are sending their souls to hell as we blast their bodies into clouds of red mist. Drawback to using HE Rounds to destroy our enemies is that the skulls are usually not worth much to make cups from which to drink our mead.
Hey, like Ahnold said:
We would run the jammers in Iraq to keep the implanted Jundi from calling everyone to let them know we were coming or giving away positions.
Here they are simply blaming the soldiers for the Russian Army failure of still not knowing how to do logistics. Placing the Ammo Handling Area right next to barracks is about as dumb as it gets, for the love of Von Klauzwitcz.
Russian troops needed their cell phones in order for Amber from the Senior Benefits Center calling from India could tell that thanks to recent legislation passed by The Federal Assembly in Moscow, they now qualify for full coverage on their funeral and burial expenses.
Putin could save a fortune that way signing up al his soldiers for these plans. Which gives me another idea….
Last time Amber called I gave her the name of a death row inmate in my state and the address to the prison. When I explained that I would be passing a bit soon even though I was perfectly healthy she got a little pissy with me.
When Hack gets a call for his car warranty, he usually tells them that he drives one of those Indian manufactured cars, or a 1989’s vintage rusted out Jaguar.
I like to ask them about an extended warranty on my 1948 Buick!
Naw, someone was calling them to talk about their extended warranties or something…
Calls from India, are YOU SURE they weren’t trying to sell extended warranties on their tanks and trucks?
Then there’s stubbornly pretending to be the dude from Sling Blade and get things backward with those “student loan forgiveness package” people… How much could that there student loan package gimme i reckon?
What ol’ Poe finds most remarkable is that the deputy regimental commander was staying in the barracks… 🙄
He didn’t have a Liberty Buddy.
Probably in the middle of calling home to the missus to tell her how safe it was there.
Probably mistook MARS for HIMARS……
That’s a throwback. They had a MARS station on Camp Schwab way back in the day. Never meant anyone who ever used it, though the Comm Platoons would have to give up a body to work the gear.
MARS is still kicking. Army MARS now belongs to NETCOM. “NETCOM, where Signal Corps careers go to die”. Some of you more senior dickweeds may remember it as USAISC. The names have been changed to protect the innocent, but none of them can be found.
Years ago before everything changed, I used to moniter MARS on my Drake R7 Shortwave receiver when they used RTTY. Gave away all my radios except for the Uniden STS 200 who I use to monitor PBFR on trunked 800 bands.
I used to monitor MARS using RTTY years ago.
A guy called in an Uber Eats order for 600 plates of borscht and a cargo truck full of vodka. That could have been a clue.
back in the day i used to work with this carpenter/GC who came over from the ComBlock. wasn’t a russian but from the satellite states (think poland, etc). took a while but i showed up for work enough times he eventually trusted me.
anyway, back in his day, he joined the army at 16. looking at conscription, not too many options. his cousin was in the red army at the time, a cook. told him “join the parachutists, at least they get enough to eat”. he joins, gets trained in this and that, commando school, explosives, he couldn’t believe how much food they gave him. from 17 to 23 he grew three inches and gained forty pounds. only qualification was if you could run forever or not.
he gets hand-picked to head over to the USSR for some real-deal close-kwaarters-battle-duhrills (CQB)
so here he is, a senior NCO in a comblock SpecOps/Recon unit, sent to the big daddy of all schools, the Ivan Drago School of If He’s Within 25m He Dies, He Dies
he gets there, all excited, feels like he’s worked for this his whole time in the service, if he’s gonna be a piece of equipment he’s gonna be the best.
they get to the range at the very beginning of the course, open the ammo boxes…
they’re all empty. someone skimmed all the ammo off the top. they can’t get enough ammo to run the course, to train everybody in CQB.
said the CO let out a big ol sigh and had em run PT for the duration of the course instead.
dysfunction at Vlad & Co. is nothing new 😂😂😂
Well, we have situations like that over here. Hack Stone was at 1st Maintenance Battalion in the mid 1999’s. Time for the rifle range. No big deal, we do this every year. Except this time we are doing night fire too, on moving targets. The Range has the guys in the pits walking back and forth with targets in the air, illuminated with flares in the background, because your enemy will always walk slowly in a straight line with flares directly behind them. We are on the firing line and open up. Bam bam bam!!! Every shoots their wad. The targets come back up. Man, Hack nailed the shit out of that target. Time for Hack to go into the pit and walk the targets. No pasty tapes for the targets. “Hey, where the fuck is the target tape?” “We don’t have any tape, just walk back and forth, then put spotters randomly in the targets.” Only the Marine Corps would have money for ammo but not target tape.
It was also during the 90’s that that same Marine Corps was waiving the annual marksmanship qualification requirement for most POGs unless they were preparing for deployment. As a SSgt I never once fired either the rifle or pistol for qualification (both are usually required for SSgts).
Marksmanship? not necessary anymore–you make it up in volume. That’s what full auto is for.
Good thing our boys have an infinite supply of ammo.
I will always remember with pride the time I qualifid “expert” on the M-14. It was a typical Baumholder spring day; mixed sleet and freezing rain with snow flurries, 20 yard visibility due to fog. And I got to use experimental guided ammunition that would knock down multiple targets with each round!
Targets? We don need no steenkin targets!
Never interrupt your enemy when he is committing a mistake.
Russian Troops are trying to advance over the bodies of their fallen comrades. I guess the Uks are building a wall of frozen corpses.
Russian Troops Trying to Advance ‘Over Corpses’ in Bakhmut—Kyiv General (newsweek.com)
The Uks are sticking to their claims of 10K dead Russians a month. There isn’t much point in keeping track of the body count anymore since the Russians DGAF about how many dead there are. They did run out of hospital space in military hospitals, so there is that.
Putin runs out of hospital beds for wounded as Kremlin blames troops for being killed – Daily Star
“Russian Troops are trying to advance over the bodies of their fallen comrades….the Russians DGAF about how many dead there are.”
Perhaps the Russians are taking this war seriously. Sort of like the Vietnamese did. That’s why Saigon is now Ho Chi Minh city while some folks here still brag that we were never defeated on the battlefield.