20/ According to a piece by @olliecarroll of @TheEconomist
, many families don't want to speak publicly for fear of losing financial compensation, or worse. Relatives who got their loved ones' bodies back intact are lucky; some casualties could only be identified from DNA.

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16/ The Russian Ministry of Defence has refused to publish such a list, saying it would be useful to foreign spies. Relatives have been calling around military enlistment offices, hospitals, an MoD hotline and contacts in Makiivka itself, without much success.

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Who lived and who died seemed quite random. One soldier was blown clear with only a minor shoulder injury, while the man in the bed next to him was killed. Many were buried under rubble.

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9/ A few stories of heroism have emerged. Junior Sergeant Artem Apanasov was awarded the Order of Courage for saving other soldiers. Although wounded, he is said to have survived miraculously by either jumping or being blown out of the third floor of the building.

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One of the survivors says that the men were all drunk, which affected their chances of survival. "Only those who were sober enough to react quickly and run away survived … After the first explosions, there was confusion and some people started shooting at each other."

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4/ A soldier who was sent in to clear the debris and recover the dead says there were "almost three hundred people [killed] at least", while another corroborates earlier accounts that there were around 400 people in the building at the time of the strike.

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2/ As has previously been reported, the HIMARS strike took place a minute or two after midnight on New Year's Day, when the men being housed in a vocational school were celebrating the New Year. Their commanders escaped, as they were celebrating in another location.

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Two independent Russian Telegram channels – Samara Protocol and Samara Against the War – have interviewed a number of survivors, rescuers and relatives of those caught up in the attack.

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Today, we commemorate the defenders of the Donetsk airport, who bravely fought there for 242 days.
This is an example of valor and skill of a Ukrainian warrior of the 21st century. Honor and glory to the "cyborg" soldiers who are with us today. Eternal memory to fallen Heroes.

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