Death toll keeps rising & Russia keeps losing: how long before Russian people start grumbling?
Ukraine’s defence ministry says another Russian general, Lt Gen Yakov Rezantsev, was killed in a strike near the southern city of Kherson.
A western official said he was the seventh general to die in Ukraine, and the second lieutenant general - the highest rank officer reportedly killed.
…
It is thought that low morale among Russian troops has forced senior officers closer to the front line.
…
It is unusual for such senior Russian officers to be so close to the battlefield, and western officials believe that they have been forced to move towards the front lines to deal with low morale among Russian troops.
The unexpectedly strong Ukrainian resistance, poor Russian equipment and a high death toll amongst Russian troops are all thought to be contributing to the low morale.
…
List or Top Russian Officers Lost so far:
(scroll down for list)
Dave, let me put this into perspective: as a Casualty Reporter for the US Army for 2 1/2 years during Vietnam (Dec. '71 through Jun '74) I can only remember one General in the US Armed Forces losing his life and that was due to artillery fire. (I can’t remember if he was a Marine or Army General, but I remember his death distinctly because I was originally trained in Artillery at Fort Sill, OK before becoming a Casualty Reporter.)
I want to say, if memory still serves me, we only had 5 or 6 Generals killed in Vietnam during our 20 year war there. (We used telex machines to communicate with MPs and units inside Vietnam, so, all our old records were on paper in mountains of file cabinets. I spent many lonely nights pouring over casualty reports broken down by rank and armed service.)
In the last count for Generals (and this may have changed in the past 36-hours) the Russian have lost 7 Generals in just over 30 days. In a Book of Tyrants, this could be the frotting record for “expenditure” of top military leaders in such a short time. Seriously, had this happened in Vietnam inside one month, the U.S. would have packed up many years before the last helicopter out of Saigon.
Russia doesn’t have a professional NCO corps, so the generals have to lead from the front if they want to get something done. I read that one general got shot when he drove to the front of that epic Kiev traffic jam, got out of the vehicle, and started waving his arms around to try to get people to untangle the mess.
The fact that the Russians don’t have secure comms doesn’t help with this; it makes generals easier to locate (for US intelligence, in particular) and also encourages them to meet people face-to-face (at the front) rather than send orders via unsecure channels.
Thank you for recommending this post to our Best of feature.
Russia doesn’t have a professional NCO corps, so the generals have to lead from the front if they want to get something done.
Amazing isn’t it, I keep trying to imagine young officers teaching raw draftees how to march, shoot, drive a tank or AFV, even a supply truck. Such things as how to keep warm in winter weather, even domestic stuff such as clean socks and underwear. We learned from our NCOs to wear a thin pair of dress socks inside our army gray wool ones to reduce the risk of blisters on a long route march.
Meanwhile they are about to get swamped with an additional 130,000+ warm bodies who are probably not as eager to learn as I was at barely 17! 1st of April is the first day of the Spring Draft.
Historically many of those receiving their notice don’t show up, perhaps the war news will encourage even more to get the parents to pay a bribe or take a long vacation somewhere warm.
Putin signs decree to draft over 130,000 conscripts into Russian Army in spring
MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on the Army’s spring draft that will run from April 1 to July 15 this year, according to the document posted on the website of the government’s legal information web portal on Monday.
The conflict in Ukraine has influenced (raised) the price of oil and upset the political arena in Europe. Once again I’m relieved at how lucky we are to live in a nation free of armed invasions and revolutions.
Ukrainian civilians are being kicked back into the dark ages by the invasion which has seen schools and hospitals shelled/bombed as refugees are attacked as they flee.
Russia loses its EIGHTH colonel after fierce fighting in Kharkiv as Putin continues to lose high-ranking officers amid faltering invasion
Colonel Denis Kurilo of the 200th separate motorised rifle brigade has died
The brigade suffered huge losses of 1,500 troops in Kharkiv, Ukrainian forces say
He is the latest major casualty of the invasion, which includes seven generals
…
It has also been revealed today that Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Dormidontov was killed last week as his funeral was held in Russia today.
