"Count the dead Russian generals..." Topic

As a result of inflicting fire damage on the enemy, the commander of the 8th General Army of the Southern Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Andrei Mordvichev, was killed…

Twitter: link

At this rate they will run out of generals like everything else.

Due to the sanctions the Russians are experiencing a general shortage.
Due to the Ukrainians the Russians are experiencing a General shortage.

@Toaster

Toaster – lmao

"To lose one general may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose four looks like carelessness."

With apologies to Oscar Wilde

5 GEN Officers KIA'd was the last report I saw on the news. My old Plt SGT would say, "That's some good shooting, Sir !"
…

Toaster +1 !!!! or +5 !

Currently they say 6:
Major-General Suhovetsky
Major-General Gerasimov
Major-General Kolesnikov
Major-General Mityayev
Lieutenant-General Mordvichev
Major-General Tushaev (Chechen)

The comment being that Russian military group on social media are a never ending list of necrologies of officers…

I think Toaster and Bozkashi Jones split the win.

Perhaps not quite a general, but the deputy commander of the Russian Black Sea fleet has also been reported as having died in action in Ukraine.

Yet another victim of Putin's folly…

Sounds like Putin told them " Make sure the attack is successful or don't come back alive! "

Better to die a hero than to be considered a traitor, well at least in Putin's army.

Dead admiral was born in Kyiv!

Twitter: link

6 now ! This should embarrassing for the Russian military ! But certainly Pluses for the Ukrainians !

I have seen an estimate of 20 major-generals in total for the original invasion force. In case this is accurate, then the proportional losses in this group have been rather high.

link

Senior field commanders need a broad battle overview and are not normally near the fighting front. Petraeus traces a major Russian problem to lack of initiative among lower ranks fearful of making mistakes. So, they get pinned down by weaker Ukrainian forces who hit-and-run.

Dead admiral was born in Kyiv!

Rear admiral, actually.

And that would have been in the Soviet times, when some citizens (especially those in military occupations) might find themselves in all corners of the Union.

Ukrainian media, citing the country's military, is also saying on Twitter that Russian Lt. Gen. Yakov Rezantsev -- the commander of the 49th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District -- has been killed.

Fox News: link

…They highlighted – and repeated – reports from earlier this week from a Ukrainian journalist that a colonel of the 37th separate guards motor rifle brigade was run over by a tank. Some reports said he had died of his injuries…

The Guardian: link

High losses of senior officers is not a good sign …

A top Ukrainian official claims that the nearly two-week absence of Russia's defence minister is due to a heart attack "after a tough accusation by Putin"

BBC: link

The Ukrainian forces also claimed that the Russian armed forces lost several senior military officers, including:

Commander of the 1st Panzer Army Lieutenant General Serhiy Kisel, removed from office;

Commander of the 6th General Army Lieutenant General Vladislav Yershov, removed from office and arrested;

Chief of Staff – Deputy Commander of the 35th All-Military Army, Major General Sergei Nirkov, was seriously wounded;

Chief of Staff – Deputy Commander of the 36th General Army, Major General Andrei Seritsky, was seriously wounded;

Deputy Commander of the 41st All-Military Army, Lieutenant General Andriy Sukhovetsky, died;

Commander of the 49th General Army Lieutenant General Yakov Ryazantsev, died;

Commander of the 58th All-Military Army, Lieutenant General Mykhailo Zusk, was removed from office and arrested.

Fox News blog: link

So it looks like the Russian high command is hiring …

Another Russian senior officer has reportedly been killed in Ukraine, becoming the latest in a string of high-ranking Russian personnel to fall since the war began 46 days ago.

According to media reports, Colonel Alexander Bespalov was commander of the 59th Guards Tank Regiment. It is unclear where or how he was killed…

BBC: link

"Another one bites the dust …"

Ukrainian MoD apparently claims that their attack close on a command centre close to Kherson on Friday left two Russian generals dead and one more in critical condition.

If this is accurate, what would be the running tally at the moment?

The Russian OOB on Wikipedia includes information on dead, wounded, dismissed and arrested.

Wow ! Being a high ranking Russian officer means you may not retire but probably die before that happens.

Also many generals have been fired for "incompetence". Probably replaced with less able but more politically reliable ones. These are also under pressure to perform.

I doubt they will perform well.

> Also many generals have been fired for "incompetence"

So in general, are they the lucky ones or the unlucky ones?

I'm not up to date, but besides the prospect of unhappy Ukrainian women and free Ukrainian washing machines (or vice versa), are the russians already deploying "barrier troops" to keep their rabble soldateska in line?

The lucky ones are those that get relieved of duty but not arrested immediately after….

Probably replaced with less able but more politically reliable ones.

Well I wonder if the mess the Russian army finds itself in is partly down to the fact that that happened before the invasion.

These are also under pressure to perform.

Many analysts seem to assume that the Russian political leadership wants some achievements to show by the May victory day parade. That is two weeks away – and it is already two months since the "special military operation" started.

Even with all these losses, I doubt that the Russian army is about to run out of general officers anytime soon. Though how many of them are looking forward to serving in this operation in Ukraine might be another issue – not that they are likely to be asked in the first place whether they want to go or not.

However, it still takes time for the replacement general to make it to the front, assume command and get up to date with the situation, which may affect the pace of operations. Coincidentally, Ukrainian military has announced that they have now captured some ground in counter-attacks in the Kherson area, where this latest loss of Russian generals took place.

I'd also assume that alongside the generals they must have lost some staff officers. That's a skills pool that won't necessarily replenish quickly given they also need to make up losses among senior field officers.

IIRC Russia has quite a lot of excess capacity in its officer corp, but how many of these have been active or just siting on some reserves list or minding some depot in the sticks?

It is not just easy to replace lost officers. Everyone who have served in a staff knows that it takes some time to "get up to speed" in a new position in the best of worlds.

Imagine badly trained officers being thrown together in an unknown staff in a war zone…

Those units will not perform very well.

Good point about the staff officers: if there has been an attack on a command post, that would presumably result in the loss of several staff, in addition to the mentioned commanders.

And if the command staff is not in a good state and familiar with the situation, then it is much more difficult for a replacement commander to take over the duties.

I also assume there is equipment and potential intel lying around as well. Earlier in the invasion the Ukrainians claimed to have nicked a bunch of Russian sig-int equipment.

Well so far I and many others have not been impressed by Russian GENs or Staff Officers …

And over 20 Colonels dead as well, so the pool of replacements is shrinking.

Wow ! Being a high ranking Russian officer means you may not retire but probably die before that happens."

This is Putin cleaver plan to cut retirement benefits

That makes sense … if they are dead, they can't get any retirement rubles. ☠

Also means that they will not be getting jobs in the West as "consultants."

This is Putin cleaver plan to cut retirement benefits

No idea what kind of contracts they have, but there might be some sort of benefits going to the next of kin of those who die in service.

You would think that like it the West. But … who knows ?

Didn't Lukashenko brag that Putin promised to promote him to be a full general in the Russian army? Maybe a good time for a field promotion and throw him on the frontline.

Apparently they've lost 36 colonels now.

Not exactly a morale booster for those still left.
Let's see now.
I could wander up near the front and see how the boys are doing.

Or

Maybe I could stay back here in this armoured vehicle.

"Maybe I could stay back here in this armoured vehicle"

"Driver do we have enough gas to…I don't know have lunch in Poland?"

I wonder how long it is before some senior Russian officer does pop in a neighbouring European country claiming political asylum!

The rumor is that Gerasimov is visiting the Russian troops izium (spelling?). Hope a drone strike visits him.

Apparently, they've lost 36 colonels now.

How long can they take these high ranking leader losses ? Along with all the other losses of men, assets, etc. they are taking. How long before high ranking Russian officers allow Putin to drag Russian into ruin as he is now ?

Regardless, US, NATO, and other nations need to continue to send support to the Ukrainians. Our objective has been made clear. We have to weaken Putin's forces to the point he will not be able to attack any state in NATO, etc. And will not be able to remain in the Ukraine. Save for their dead, MIAs, deserters, etc.

Serious down-sizing. With the army losing so many men and equipment they need fewer generals and colones.

My only fear is that they will learn and maybe even become better at their trade. Lets hope for Russian incompetence and inability to think or act like true professionals.