Colonel Sakharov was but one of a number slain from the Kostroma regiment, seen as among Russia’s most elite fighting forces.
Also killed were senior sergeant Sergei Lebedev, sergeant Alexander Limonov, corporal Yuri Degtyaryov
Also killed were senior sergeant Sergei Lebedev, sergeant Alexander Limonov, corporal Yuri Degtyaryov
https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1504706312667643931
Military Intelligence officer Sergey Vishnyakov, of the GRU’s 22nd Separate Special Forces Brigade is also believed to have been killed in fighting near Mariupol in a Grad attack by Ukraine’s Azov battalion.
The battle of Ilovaisk in 2014, where >1k Ukrainian soldiers, mostly volunteers, were slain also explains why Ukrainians are rightly suspicious of Russian offers re safe passage corridors and cease fires.
Whilst Russia claimed not to have supplemented rebel forces, Ukrainians captured Russian soldiers & equipment.
It was also seen by Ukrainians as a battle that exposed the great weakness of the then professional army in Ukraine and has led to a root and branch review and upscale.
It was also seen by Ukrainians as a battle that exposed the great weakness of the then professional army in Ukraine and has led to a root and branch review and upscale.
We are seeing the effect of that review, retraining in the strategic and highly effective leadership now.
They have learned from their losses. Russia has yet to do so.
The Ukrainians have also won the battle of the airways, at least in the West.
They have learned from their losses. Russia has yet to do so.
The Ukrainians have also won the battle of the airways, at least in the West.
This time they told their story and continue to tell their stories to great effect, resulting in far FAR greater engagement and supply from the West, unlike in 2014 when we all let them down.
Badly.
And we are seeing the result now.
Badly.
And we are seeing the result now.
In 2014
Ilovaisk battle 2014:
📌February 2014: Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych flees after months of protests in Kiev.
📌March 2014: Russia seizes then annexes Crimea from Ukraine
Ilovaisk battle 2014:
📌February 2014: Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych flees after months of protests in Kiev.
📌March 2014: Russia seizes then annexes Crimea from Ukraine
📌April 2014: Russian-backed armed groups seize parts of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk; government launches military operation to retake them
📌August 2014: Battle of Ilovaisk. >1k Ukrainian soldiers estimated to have died in it
📌August 2014: Battle of Ilovaisk. >1k Ukrainian soldiers estimated to have died in it
⚰️Total casualties of conflict 2014-19: Some 13,000 dead, including 3,331 civilians, and 30,000 wounded (OHCR 2019)
Many of those losses were in the Ilovaisk massacre when soldiers and civilians were fired on by rebel troops supplemented by Russian troops and firepower during what was supposed to be a ceasefire.
The mistrust of Russian ceasefires and “peace talks” is logical given the conduct then but, in particular, the conduct of Putin and the Russian Government since.
They just come back for more.
And more.
And more.
Weaponising lies on an industrial scale along the way.
They just come back for more.
And more.
And more.
Weaponising lies on an industrial scale along the way.
On published data I make that 4 General and 6 Colonels killed, and 9 Generals (including the one from the FSB) either sacked or arrested.
That is an extraordinarily high attrition rate of very very senior personnel and in just 3 weeks.
Yet Putin just sits there.
That is an extraordinarily high attrition rate of very very senior personnel and in just 3 weeks.
Yet Putin just sits there.
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