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Makiivka strike and the last day of 2022
Summary
A look back at the Ukrainian missile attack on a Makiivka barracks and the Russian strikes that preceded it.
What happened in Makiivka on 31 December 2022, and why did the competing casualty figures matter? Ukraine claimed that a missile attack on a vocational school building used as military barracks killed and injured hundreds of mobilised Russian soldiers. Russian authorities acknowledged several casualties but suggested lower figures.
A dispute over numbers
The gap between the two accounts was wide from the start. Background compiled later states that the strike hit Professional Technical School No. 19 in Makiivka, Donetsk Oblast, during the night of 31 December 2022 and 1 January 2023. Ukrainian officials claimed 400 Russian troops were killed. Russian officials initially confirmed 63 dead and, two days later, raised that figure to 89. The attack used HIMARS rockets and destroyed the building and nearby military equipment.
The days before
The strike came two days after Russia carried out a series of drone and cruise missile attacks on 29 December 2022. Strikes were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv and Zhytomyr, and at least three people were injured. The attacks formed part of Russia's wider campaign against Ukrainian infrastructure that year.
What the day showed
Taken together, the two episodes show the war at the end of 2022 as an exchange of long-range strikes: Russian drones and missiles reaching cities across Ukraine, and a Ukrainian missile attack on a concentration of mobilised troops in occupied Donetsk Oblast. The Makiivka account also shows how far official claims on casualties could diverge, with Russian authorities giving lower numbers than Kyiv.
