A war reporter decorated by Putin says Kremlin's cellphone story is 'not very convincing'
Source: Business Insider
A war reporter decorated by Putin says the Kremlin's story that cellphones are why a lot of Russian troops died in a Ukrainian strike is 'not very convincing'
Jake Epstein
Wed, January 4, 2023 at 12:05 PM EST·4 min read
After a Ukrainian strike killed scores of Russian soldiers in Donetsk, Moscow pinned the blame on cellphone use by its forces, but a war reporter honored by Russian President Vladimir Putin pushed back on those claims, saying that the Kremlin's story is "not very convincing."
"I rarely say this — but this is the case when it would probably be better to remain silent, at least until the end of the investigation. As such it looks like an outright attempt to smear the blame," Semyon Pegov, who was recently awarded the Order of Courage by the Russian leader after he was injured by an anti-personnel mine in Ukraine, said on Telegram, NBC News reported.
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"It is already obvious that the main reason for what happened was the switching on and massive use — contrary to the prohibition — by personnel of mobile phones in a reach zone of enemy weapons," the defense ministry said, referring to regulations prohibiting cellphone usage by Russian troops.
"The story with 'mobiles' is not very convincing," Pegov countered on social media. He said Russian forces could have been detected by drones or Ukrainian troops could have been tipped off by an informant, CNN reported. He also said that the death toll was likely higher than acknowledged.
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Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/war-reporter-decorated-putin-says-170516270.html
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