Russia's top military blogger questions official death toll in Makiivka attack

Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, also known as WarGonzo, has called into question the official death toll from an attack on Russian barracks in eastern Ukraine, which Moscow's Ministry of Defense said resulted in the deaths of 63 servicemen on Monday, as per a report from CNN news.

In a video posted on his Telegram channel, Pegov claimed that sources on the ground at the site of the attack, known as the Makiivka tragedy, were still digging through rubble and that the number of victims could be higher. Ukrainian military sources have claimed that the attack resulted in around 400 Russian soldiers killed and 300 more wounded, though the exact number is still being clarified.

Makiivka attack presumed to be one of the deadliest incidents of war for Russia

If the Ukrainian military's estimates are accurate, the Makiivka attack would represent one of the deadliest single incidents of the war for Russian forces. The attack has drawn significant attention in Russia, with President Vladimir Putin personally awarding Pegov the "Order of Courage" at the Kremlin just weeks ago.

Pegov is not the only one to challenge the official Russian account of the attack. Igor Girkin, a former official in the Russia-backed Donetsk People's Republic, has also suggested that the number of dead and wounded could be in the hundreds, with many still missing. Girkin has a controversial past, having been found guilty by a Dutch court of mass murder for his involvement in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014. The attack on the Russian barracks has heightened tensions between Ukraine and Russia, with both sides trading accusations over the incident.