A rare public blame game has erupted between the Russian government and some pro-Kremlin leaders and military experts, after Moscow appeared to blame a Ukrainian strike on New Year’s Day on its own soldiers’ use of cell phones.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the “main cause” of a strike in the occupied city of Makiivka was widespread use of cell phones by Russian soldiers, “contrary to the ban,” which allowed Ukraine to “track and determine the coordinates of the soldiers’ locations.”