The fallout from Ukraine’s devastating New Year strike on an army barracks in the Russian-occupied city of Makiivka, a suburb of Donetsk, proceeds to improve, with the Kremlin’s top propagandist now wading into the increasingly indignant blame video game.

The formal death toll from the assault, in accordance to RF military sources, rose to 89 on Wednesday, upping pressure on Russia’s military services leadership, as even pro-Kremlin commentators suggested the genuine determine could be in the hundreds.

Russia’s defense ministry has announced a fee was performing to create how so a lot of troops misplaced their life and explained “responsible” officers would be punished.

So significantly President Vladimir Putin has completed well to avoid becoming held specifically liable for these uncomfortable setbacks, and the Kremlin will be hoping that blame can be pinned solely on military services commanders.

In a indication of just how significantly the criticism is being taken by the Kremlin, Margarita Simonyan, the influential head of RT, Russia’s point out-managed international Television channel, welcomed the army’s promise that officials “will be held accountable.”

“I hope that the names of these folks will be introduced,” she mentioned.

“It is time to comprehend that impunity does not lead to social harmony. Impunity sales opportunities to new crimes. And, as a outcome, to general public dissent.”

Russian Lt. Standard Sergei Sevryukov explained the tragedy experienced most likely taken location simply because Russian troops experienced utilized mobile phones, offering away their locale to Ukrainian forces. But some critics have accused the military of making an attempt to shift the blame.

The U.K.’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed on Wednesday that promises of ammunition remaining stored near in which troops slept was a “reasonable possibility.”

“The Russian armed service has a report of unsafe ammunition storage,” it explained in a assertion.

“This incident highlights how unprofessional practices contribute to Russia’s high casualty level.”

Condition television military correspondents – whose impact has risen all through the offensive – have accused prime commanders of lethal incompetence, AFP stories.

The strike also led to a rare community display of grief in some towns, including in the Samara area on the Volga River, where many of the dead servicemen arrived from.