Russian nationalists blamed military leaders after a shocking report said a large number of troops was killed. "We are at war with our own stupidity and sloppiness," a Russian blogger wrote. It wasn't clear if the latest casualties also included troops from the naval infantry that Akhmedov had led before commanding a Russian field army. Russian generals and colonels have previously been accused of incompetence that led to military disasters. A Ukrainian New Year's strike led to as many as 400 deaths and fueled outrage that Russian officers had bivouacked troops within range of the GPS-guided HIMARS rockets.

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Persons: —, Sergey Kolyasnikov, Rob Lee, Zurab Akhmedov, milbloggers, Akhmedov Organizations: Service, Armed Forces, Foreign Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Defense Locations: Russian, Kreminna, Ukraine, Luhansk, Ukrainian