Anger in Russia as 63 troops killed in one of war's deadliest strikes

Kyiv said the Russian death toll was in the hundreds, though pro-Russian officials called this an exaggeration

Serhii Kaharlytskyi, right, stands outside his home, destroyed after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Jan. 2, 2023. Kaharlytskyi's wife Iryna died in the attack on Dec. 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Renata Brito)

Russia acknowledged on Monday that scores of its troops were killed in one of the Ukraine war's deadliest strikes, drawing demands from nationalist bloggers for commanders to be punished for housing soldiers alongside an ammunition dump.

Russia's defence ministry said 63 soldiers had died in the fiery blast which destroyed a temporary barracks in a former vocational college in Makiivka, twin city of the Russian-occupied regional capital of Donetsk.