Russian forces are repeating basic errors that are compromising the security and safety of their own soldiers in occupied Ukraine, according to military analysts, including failing to shut down cellphone use in areas where troops are concentrated within range of Ukrainian artillery.
In the latest example that suggests poor Russian operational security, Ukrainian forces destroyed a facility used as a base for mobilized troops in the city of Makiivka, in the Donbas area of eastern Ukraine.
“The Russian military is not a learning organization,” said retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen.
Ben Hodges,
a former commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe who has been critical of Russian operations throughout the war. “To learn, first you have to acknowledge that you were wrong, and that’s not the culture,” he said.
In a statement issued Monday, the ministry said 63 troops had died in the New Year’s Eve blast after four U.S.-supplied Himars rockets carrying high-explosive warheads struck a vocational facility housing hundreds of newly mobilized troops. Rybar, a Telegram channel with links to the Russian military, said Tuesday that “more than 100 Russian servicemen were killed” in the attack.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, which didn’t say it was responsible for the attack, said 400 troops were killed and 300 wounded. Whichever figure is closer to the actual toll, the incident appears to be one of the deadliest attacks suffered by Russian forces since the invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24.
Reports from Russian military bloggers and other pro-Russian sources suggest several significant failings, not the least in allowing a large concentration of troops to gather within the range of precise Ukrainian artillery. The school is located less than 10 miles behind the front line.
The troops appeared to be billeted next to a store of ammunition, which caused large secondary explosions that flattened the facility, with other easily observable military…
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