Could cellphone usage be behind Russia’s losses in the war? The short answer: yes, it is. 

A Ukrainian missile strike seems to have taken out dozens of Russian soldiers, leaving many others injured. Russian authorities have said that illegal cellphone use by its soldiers is what led to their coming under fire.

The attack was made using a US-provided Himars multiple launch system. Four of the six rockets launched made an impact, while the other two were downed. But the four that made it did significant damage. According to Russian sources, over 89 soldiers have been killed. However, Ukrainian estimates suggest that over 400 enemy soldiers were taken out during the strike.

The missile took out a Russian barracks in a Makiivka-based vocational college. The wounded, according to Ukraine’s sources, come up to another 300 troops.

Russian General Lieutenant Sergei Sevryukov has confirmed that phone signals from these illegal devices made it possible for Kyiv to launch an attack, since they were able to “determine the coordinates of the location of military personnel.” At this point, steps are now in place to “prevent similar tragic incidents in the future” and promised to punish officials responsible for the failure.

The strike has taken a chunk out of the Kremlin’s offence and is the biggest attack of its kind in the war so far.

This isn’t the first time that Russian troops have ended up compromising their own posts because of their cellphone usage. At the start of the war, it was found that several were on Tinder, trying to pick up Ukrainian women right before they were meant to attack.

There were also reports of Russians using their phones to create TikTok videos. Those videos were then used by Ukrainian forces to send missiles to wipe them out.

Despite all these issues, Russian soldiers continue to flout the ban on cellphones and continue to put not just themselves but their entire operation at risk. When their phones were confiscated, they found a workaround and began using phones they had stolen from Ukrainians.

Meanwhile, some believe that the fact that Russian authorities are so quick to blame cellphones is merely a way of covering up the fact that they are in a losing battle. Instead of admitting that Ukraine is putting to use drones and multiple other war efforts to bring them down, they are instead shifting the blame to the soldiers in the field.

The whole situation is nothing less than bizarre. The only thing we do know for sure is that the fight isn’t as easy as Putin thought it would be.