Russia pins attack blame on soldiers using phones

UNAUTHORISED use of mobile phones by Russian soldiers led to a deadly Ukrainian rocket attack on the facility where they were stationed, the Russian military said, as it raised the death toll from the weekend attack to 89.

General Lieutenant Sergei Sevryukov said that phone signals allowed Kyiv's forces to "determine the coordinates of the location of military personnel" and launch a strike in the eastern Donetsk region.

He said measures were being taken to "prevent similar tragic incidents in the future" and promised to punish officials responsible for the failure.

The attack, one of the deadliest on the Kremlin's forces since the start of the war more than 10 months ago, occurred one minute into the new year, according to Mr Sevryukov.