Moscow is blaming a deadly strike by Ukraine on its troops’ unauthorized use of cell phones.
On Wednesday, Russia’s defense ministry said the death toll from a Ukrainian strike in Makiivka had climbed higher than the 63 initially reported. And that a total of 89 bodies were found under the rubble of a temporary base.
This is the worst single reported loss from a Ukrainian strike to date.
And Ukraine’s strategic communications unit estimates that it is much higher than Russia is reporting. They estimate that nearly 400 Russian soldiers may have died.
Makiivka represents the heaviest losses reported by the Russian military in a single attack since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Since President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion thousands of people have been killed in Ukraine. And the Russians have suffered heavy casualties which they rarely report.
The simulators trick the phones into connecting with several masts in the area, measuring the strength and direction of the signal for each phone and mast pic.twitter.com/Egj9Md0dAN
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 31, 2022
Unauthorized use of cell phones
It has been reported since March that mobile networks are now being weaponized with both Russia and Ukraine tracking soldiers’ phones with drones.
