Massive use of phone by soldiers reason behind deadly missile attack by Ukraine: Russia

Ukraine missile attack that killed at least 89 Russian soldiers had happened because Russian forces were using their mobile phones, reported BBC. At first, as per the Sky News reports, Russia's defense ministry informed that 63 Russian soldiers were killed and acknowledged the attack more than 36 hours after it took place. Ukrainian forces targeted a college for conscripts in Makiivka, in the occupied Donetsk area, on January 1. In a statement, it said: "It is already obvious that the main reason for what happened was the switching on and massive use - contrary to the prohibition - by personnel of mobile phones in a reach zone of enemy weapons, " reported the Sky News. 

Soldiers' use of banned phones allowed the enemy to locate its target, said the Russian military, as per BBC reports. 

A missile attack by Ukrainian forces

In the Russia-Ukraine war, this attack has been considered the deadliest and the number of casualties remains unknown. As per the claim by Ukraine's defense ministry, 400 soldiers were killed in the attack and a further 300 wounded. Further, Russian officials said that Ukraine attacked a vocational college on New Year's Day. In the attack, six rockets were fired from a US-made HIMARS rocket system (M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), out of which two were eliminated, said the Russian official. Russian deputy commander of the regiment, Lt Col Bachurin was killed during the Ukrainian strikes. 

After the investigation, the main cause of the attack has been given to the presence and "mass use" of mobile phones by the Russian troops in a range of Ukrainian weapons, despite being given orders to not use mobile phones on the frontline. "This factor allowed the enemy to locate and determine the coordinates of the location of military personnel for a missile strike," reported BBC citing the statement of the Russian Defence Ministry. Further, the statement read that those who would be found guilty would be punished and measures to prevent similar events in the future would be taken.