Early on New Year’s Day, information began surfacing that detailed a Ukrainian strike on a school housing Russian troops in Donetsk.
As with most reporting concerning this war, there were different narratives about how many died and the details surrounding what happened.
So, let’s look at the opposing narratives to discern what the truth likely is.
To start, a pro-Russian official in Donetsk, Daniil Bezsonov announced via his Telegram that the strike hit at 0001 on New Year’s Day. The time when it happened isn’t something likely to be manipulated in this case. So, this is probably accurate information.
Things get hazy once you start looking at the death toll and the number injured.
The Kremlin is claiming that 63 soldiers were killed by the strike and Russian-installed officials in Donetsk kept to this number.
Now Ukrainian sources put the number of casualties up around 400.
But it gets interesting once we begin looking at the response from pro-Russian war journalists and bloggers.
They have been expressing their anger with Russian military leadership by claiming their negligence allowed the strike to occur.
Because of their bias and current anger with the Kremlin, these pro-Russian sources are likely to be reporting accurate casualty numbers.
@wartranslated on Twitter did a great job documenting the pro-Russian response to the strike.
Pavel Gubarev, an active war participant since 2014 on the Rus side, commenting on the Makiivka incident says this is far from the only time rear bases are attacked. In Kherson, "hundreds of people" were killed by HIMARS strikes that occurred "every day".https://t.co/v8ekmAYxpX pic.twitter.com/OyazF0evLA
— Dmitri (@wartranslated) January 2, 2023
Girkin on Makiivka incident – hundreds of victims, many still under the rubble. The building where they were housed also contained an ammunition cache and vehicle storage, which is why the strike was so deadly.https://t.co/9zGYWVIvM1 pic.twitter.com/tJa0lM7X0h
— Dmitri (@wartranslated) January 2, 2023
There are multiple reports of a New Year celebration that occurred in a building of a school in the occupied Makiivka, where a large number of mobilised were located. HIMARS strike.
Russian sources are telling about hundreds of victims.https://t.co/hRG2H2FFX0 pic.twitter.com/cBTz5qWwMU
— Dmitri (@wartranslated) January 1, 2023
From this, we know the number of dead is definitely closer to the Ukrainian numbers than the Kremlin’s 63.
Below is also some geolocation and satellite imagery which shows the damage done by the strike.
Satellite imagery of the destroyed Makiivka school #19 https://t.co/3SmQSzGjqt pic.twitter.com/XxRgVTFtNT
— Benjamin Pittet (@COUPSURE) January 2, 2023
Finally, the video below reportedly shows the moment of the strike which was recorded by a couple sitting at their kitchen table.
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?? ????? ???? ????? ?? ??????????? ??????, ????? ?? ????? ???????? ????????? ??????? ?????. ??? ???????????? ?????????? ? ???, ??? ???? ?? ??? ??? ??????? ? ?????? 12:00 31 ???????. pic.twitter.com/I3ESN4mkES
— SVTV NEWS (@svtv_news) January 2, 2023
