Anger mounts in Russia over ‘most deadly’ Himars strike

Moscow officials must be punished for failing to stop a devastating strike on military barracks, critics inside Russia have said, amid rising anger over one of the deadliest single attacks on Vladimir Putin’s forces since the start of the war.

Russia said 63 soldiers were killed when four high-explosive missiles struck the town of Makiivka’s temporary deployment base in a school. Kyiv has put the death toll much higher at around 400.

Sergei Mironov, a politician and former chairman of the Russian senate, demanded that officials who “allowed the concentration of military personnel in an unprotected building” and others who failed to provide adequate security to face criminal liability.

Grigory Karasin, a Russian senator, demanded vengeance against Nato and Ukraine, along with “an exacting internal analysis” of the incident.

Meanwhile, Andrey Medvedev, the deputy speaker of the Moscow City parliament, said that if there is no retribution for the losses “the country is over”.