Workers and emergency services remove the remains of a destroyed building believed to be a vocational college used as temporary accommodation for Russian soldiers in Makiivka, in Russian-controlled Ukraine, on January 3. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)
A prominent Russian military blogger, who just weeks ago received an award from President Vladimir Putin, has cast doubt on Moscow’s official death toll from an attack on Russian barracks in occupied eastern Ukraine.
Semyon Pegov, who blogs under the alias “WarGonzo,” posted a five-minute video on his Telegram channel Tuesday morning discussing what he called the “Makiivka tragedy.”
“Despite the official statement of the Ministry of Defense, the exact number of victims is still unknown,” Pegov said in the video.
“As far as we can rely on our own sources working at the site of this tragedy, they are still digging through the rubble at this time. And unfortunately, the number of victims of this tragedy – the HIMARS strike in the quarters of the newly mobilized and serving military, including the National Guard – could be greater.”
In a rare admission, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that 63 servicemen had been killed in Makiivka when Ukraine used HIMARS missiles to attack a building where Russian soldiers were quartered.
The Ukrainian military says around 400 Russian soldiers were killed and another 300 wounded, and says the exact figure is “being clarified”.
In any case, it would represent one of the deadliest single episodes of the war for Russian forces.
Putin personally awarded Pegov the “Order of Courage” in the Kremlin on 20 December.
Pegov is not alone in questioning Russia’s official account.
Igor Girkin, a former official in the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic, suggested on Monday that the number of dead and injured could be in the hundreds.
“There are still no definitive figures on the number of victims, as many people are still missing,” said Girkin, who was found guilty by a Dutch court of mass murder for his part in the attack on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014.