The New Year strike on a Russian military base in Makiivka has led to Moscow's biggest admission of loss of life since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. But aside from the devastating, and still mounting, death toll, experts say the incident has exposed something even more alarming for Russia: broad incompetence and carelessness at the heart of its military command.
Just minutes after Ukraine rang in the New Year, four US-made HIMARS rockets rained down on a purported school building housing Russian army recruits in the industrial town of Makiivka, in the occupied region of Donetsk. Ukraine, along with Russian military bloggers, quickly put the death toll at a staggering 400. Moscow on the other hand, first estimated it at 63, but early Wednesday revised it up to 89.
