Russia is alleged to have lost a third Russian general in Ukraine in another devastating blow to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Major General Andrei Kolesnikov of the 29th Combined Arms Army became the latest high-profile casualty of the war today, Ukraine’s government announced.
Kolesnikov’s death comes four days after the killing of Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, 45, the first deputy commander of Russia’s 41st army.
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The general took part in the second Chechen war, the Russian military operation in Syria, and the annexation of Crimea, winning medals from those campaigns.
According to reports, 20 Russian generals are believed to be taking part in the faltering invasion, which has also seen the loss of 173 tanks, 12 aircraft, and 345 troop carriers.
Western officials said the multiple general casualties suggest they are having to move to the front because Russia’s troops are either unable to make their own decisions or are fearful of moving forward.
According to reports, Gerasimov was the son of Valery Gerasimov – the Chief of General Staff of Russia’s armed forces.
Last week, Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky, 47, deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District, was killed. Sukhovetsky died during a special operation in Ukraine, his comrade-in-arms Sergey Chipilev wrote on social media.
He was shot and killed by a sniper near Mariupol, which has been under a brutal siege by Russian forces for days.
Putin ‘sacks eight generals’
Meanwhile, Putin is said to have sacked eight top generals in anger over the slow pace of the Ukraine invasion.
Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine’s Security Council, said eight Russian commanders have been fired since the start of the conflict amid heavy losses on the battlefield.
Putin is also said to be enraged with leaders of the FSB security service for handing him intelligence suggesting that Ukraine was weak, riddled with neo-Nazi groups, and would give up easily if attacked.
Philip Ingram, a former senior British intelligence officer, told The Times that Putin is obviously ‘very angry’ and is blaming his intelligence agencies.
‘He blames them for seeding him the advice that led to the poor decision-making in Ukraine,’ he said.
That poor decision making has led to Russia suffering much higher casualties than it expected in its attack, which has now been going on for two weeks.
Moscow anticipated little resistance when it sent in light forces backed by airstrikes to seize key targets during the opening days.
Danilov said Putin thought capital city Kyiv would fall within two to three days.
‘It hasn’t happened and never will,’ he said.
The security head said ‘desperate’ Moscow has ‘now switched to a different tactic’ by changing leadership.
‘They had about 8 generals removed from their posts because they did not complete the task,’ he told state TV.
Russia to recruit Syrians to fight in Ukraine
Russia has been trying to recruit Syrians to fight in Ukraine to bolster Moscow’s flagging invasion, according to the Pentagon.
A senior US defence official said it was unclear how many Syrians Vladimir Putin is seeking to recruit, but said “we find it noteworthy that he believes he needs to rely on foreign fighters.”
The official added there was no evidence of Syrian fighters having arrived in Ukraine so far.
The Russian recruitment effort was first reported by a Syrian news website, DeirEzzor24, which said Moscow was seeking volunteers to act as guards on six-month contracts, for between $200 and $300 a month.
The same report said the Russian mercenary firm Wagner had been equipping its Syrian operatives, who had served in the Libyan war on the side of the general, Khalifa Haftar, to transfer to Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal reported that some Syrian mercenaries were already in Russia and prepared to enter the fight in Ukraine. Russia has also deployed Chechen forces in Ukraine, according to the Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, a close ally of Putin’s.
Ukraine has set up its own “international legion” for foreign volunteers to come to its defence. The foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, claimed that over 20,000 people from 52 countries had said they were willing to come to the country to serve alongside the Ukrainian armed forces.
