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

Ukrainian servicemen use searchlights as they search for drones in a sky over city during a Russian drones strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 1, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

KYIV (Reuters) -Russia acknowledged on Monday that scores of its troops were killed in one of the Ukraine war's deadliest strikes, drawing demands from Russian 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 in eastern Ukraine.