Three commanders in Russia’s army have been killed after moving up towards the frontline in an apparent attempt to restore momentum to the invasion of Ukraine, according to Western sources.
The deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army, Maj Gen Andrei Sukhovetsky, whose death from a probable sniper bullet was revealed on Thursday, is the highest-ranking member of the invasion force to lose his life after nine days of fighting.
Now Western officials have confirmed that a divisional commander and a regimental commander have also been killed, in what was described as a “surprising” development resulting from a breakdown in command and control systems.
It is believed that the senior officers may have moved from positions in the rear to unusually exposed frontline locations in an bid to impose their personal authority on a flagging advance, which has been beset with logistical problems and fierce resistance from Ukrainian troops.
Recent days have seen Vladimir Putin’s forces switch from their initial plan to take Ukraine swiftly with a “thunder road” drive to the cities to a more cautious and brutal tactic of bombardment, which has claimed many civilian lives.
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The past 24 hours have seen a continued barrage of air and artillery strikes on Ukrainian cities, including residential areas, as well as the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, said Western officials.
One said that this was “probably a consequence of Russia’s efforts to mitigate the ongoing logistical difficulties and counter strong Ukrainian resistance”.
The opening days of the invasion have demonstrated severe shortcomings in the Russian army’s planning and execution of an operation which is larger than many of those involved have ever trained for, said the official.
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Ukraine crisis 23 January 2022 An Ukrainian Military Forces serviceman, watches through spyglass in a dugout on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near Gorlivka, Donetsk region
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Ukraine crisis 23 January 2022 An Ukrainian Military Forces serviceman, caresses a dog in a dugout on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near Gorlivka, Donetsk region
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Ukraine crisis 23 January 2022 An Ukrainian Military Forces serviceman, looks on in a dugout on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near Gorlivka, Donetsk region
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Ukraine crisis 22 January 2022 Civilian participants in a Kyiv Territorial Defence unit train on a Saturday in a forest in Kyiv, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 22 January 2022 Mariana, 52, a marketing researcher who for the past two years has been a volunteer in a Kyiv Territorial Defence unit, trains on a Saturday in a forest in Kyiv, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 22 January 2022 Civilian participants in a Kyiv Territorial Defence unit train on a Saturday in a forest in Kyiv, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 22 January 2022 A civilian participant in a Kyiv Territorial Defence unit waits to fend off a mock attack while training on a Saturday in a forest in Kyiv, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 22 January 2022 An instructor trains members of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces, volunteer military units of the Armed Forces, in a city park in Kyiv, Ukraine
AP
Ukraine crisis 22 January 2022 Civilian participants in a Kyiv Territorial Defence unit train on a Saturday in a forest in Kyiv, Ukraine
Getty Images
Ukraine crisis 22 January 2022 Mariana (C), 52, a marketing researcher who for the past two years has been a volunteer in a Kyiv Territorial Defence unit, trains on a Saturday in a forest in Kyiv, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 22 January 2022 A member of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces, volunteer military units of the Armed Forces, trains in a city park in Kyiv, Ukraine
AP
Ukraine crisis 22 January 2022 Civilian participants in a Kyiv Territorial Defence unit train on a Saturday in a forest in Kyiv, Ukraine
Getty Images
Ukraine crisis 22 January 2022 Members of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces, volunteer military units of the Armed Forces, train in a city park in Kyiv, Ukraine
AP
Ukraine crisis 22 January 2022 Civilians, including Tatiana (L), 21, a university veterinary medicine student who is also enrolled in a military reserve program, participate in a Kyiv Territorial Defence unit training on a Saturday in a forest in Kyiv, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 22 January 2022 Civilian participants in a Kyiv Territorial Defence unit train on a Saturday in a forest in Kyiv, Ukraine
Getty Images
Ukraine crisis 22 January 2022 Civilian participants in a Kyiv Territorial Defence unit train on a Saturday in a forest in Kyiv, Ukraine
Getty Images
Ukraine crisis 22 January 2022 Civilian participants in a Kyiv Territorial Defence unit train on a Saturday in a forest in Kyiv, Ukraine
Getty Images
Ukraine crisis 21 January 2022 A poster of Russian President Vladimir Putin is used as target practice along a trench on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near Zolote village, in the Lugansk region
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Ukraine crisis 20 January 2022 Russian servicemen standing at attention upon their arrival for the joint drills in Belarus
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Ukraine crisis 20 January 2022 Russian infantry fighting vehicles upon their arrival for the joint drills in Belarus
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Ukraine crisis 19 January 2022 A Russian armored vehicle drives off a railway platform after arrival in Belarus
AP
Ukraine crisis 19 January 2022 A service member of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stands next to a BM-21 “Grad” multiple rocket launcher during tactical military exercises at a shooting range in the Kherson region, Ukraine
via REUTERS
Ukraine crisis 19 January 2022 A Russian armored vehicle drives off a railway platform after arrival in Belarus
AP
Ukraine crisis 19 January 2022 A satellite image shows equipment deployed at Klimovo Railyard in Klimovo, Russia
via REUTERS
Ukraine crisis 19 January 2022 A satellite image shows an closer view of tank artillery and support equipment from the deployed units in Yelnya (130km/80miles east of Russia/Belarus border)
Satellite image ？？2022 Maxar Tech
Ukraine crisis 19 January 2022 A satellite image shows a close view of tanks artillery and tents in the Pogonov training area of Voronez, Russia
Satellite image ？？2022 Maxar Tech
Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea
AP
Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Yura and Viktor, Ukrainian soldiers with the 56th Brigade in a trench on the front line in Pisky, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Anatoliy, a Ukrainian soldier with the 56th Brigade, in a trench on the front line in Pisky, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Anatoliy and other Ukrainian soldiers with the 56th Brigade in a trench on the front line in Pisky, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Ukrainian soldiers with the 56th Brigade walk past a destroyed building on the front line in Pisky, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Ukrainian Military Forces servicemen stand in a trench on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near Verkhnetoretske village, in the Donetsk region
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Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Mykola, a Ukrainian soldier with the 56th Brigade, near the front line in Pisky, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Mykola and Viktor, Ukrainian soldiers with the 56th Brigade, in a trench on the front line in Pisky, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Ira and Katya, Ukrainian soldiers with the 56th Brigade, on the front line in Pisky, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Ira, Katya and Alyona, Ukrainian soldiers with the 56th Brigade, on the front line in Pisky, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea
AP
Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Russian troop train transporting military vehicles arriving for drills in Belarus
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Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Russian servicemen preparing military vehicles to unload from a troop train for the joint drills in Belarus
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE REPUBLIC OF
Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Russian troop train transporting military vehicles arriving for drills in Belarus
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE REPUBLIC OF
Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Russian servicemen holding a traditional Belarus’ bread and salt upon their arrival for the joint drills in Belarus
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE REPUBLIC OF
Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Mykola, a Ukrainian soldier with the 56th Brigade, poses for a portrait in a trench on the front line in Pisky, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 18 January 2022 Mykola, a Ukrainian soldier with the 56th Brigade, in a trench on the front line in Pisky, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 17 January 2022 Ukrainian soldiers walk in a trench near the front line in the village of New York, formerly known as Novhorodske, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 17 January 2022 An Ukrainian soldier walks in a trench near the front line in the village of New York, formerly known as Novhorodske, Ukraine
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Ukraine crisis 17 January 2022 An Ukrainian soldier uses a hand-held periscope to view the positions of Russian-backed troops in a trench near the front line in the village of New York, formerly known as Novhorodske, Ukraine
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Having failed to achieve air superiority on the first day, the invaders have been able to move only slowly and have suffered from problems with supply of fuel and food, numbers of desertions and a “significant” dislocation of command and control structures.
The 40-mile convoy of armoured vehicles north of Kyiv has effectively become “an enormous traffic jam”, virtually immobile for several days and vulnerable to attack from Ukrainian forces. The sheer scale of it - and the presence of abandoned and destroyed vehicles amid it - has made movements of vital supplies and engineering units difficult.
It is in these circumstances that senior officers appear to have felt obliged to venture forwards, said one Western official.
“My assessment is that they have been killed because they have had to go further and closer to the front, rather than them being killed in the rear of operations,” said the official.
“The reason why that is happening is that commanders feel they have to move further forward to get greater impetus and control over operations. I think that’s an indication of a degree of frustration, some degree of lack of progress.
“They are trying to impose their personality on the battlefield and putting themselves at personal risk.”
Maj Gen Andrei Sukhovetsky
(Alamy Stock Photo)
Western officials were aware of weaknesses in Russian military preparedness ahead of the Ukraine operation, but have been shocked by the flawed implementation of the invasion plan.
“What is clear is that the plan that the Russians were working to, they are not able to maintain the pace that they had planned,” said one. “They underestimated Ukrainian resistance significantly.
“They have had a range of challenges in the execution of the plan, all of which we knew were fragilities in the Russian military system. But they have somehow managed to have all of those fragilities play out simultaneously, which has led to the lack of progress, combined with that fierce Ukrainian resistance.”
The official said it was too early to say whether Moscow would eventually be able to take and hold Ukraine, or substantial parts of it. Much would depend on whether the Ukrainians were able to maintain the “remarkable” performance of the early days of the conflict.
The Ukrainians “deserve an enormous amount of credit for both the way in which they’ve fought and the operations and the tactics they’ve conducted,” said one Western official.
This map shows the extent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
(Press Association Images)
“This has been, I think, a remarkable operation by them - something which has surprised and in some ways shocked the Russian commanders and is having a psychological impact on the Russian troops, as a consequence of the ferocity of the fight.”
In the past, Russian - and previously Soviet - military doctrine has always been to “reinforce success” and swiftly ditch tactics which appear not to be working, said the official.
“In this campaign, it’s been remarkable that they have continued to reinforce failure,” he added. “That lack of operational agility I find surprising.
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“Perhaps it's one of the challenges of their command and control that is preventing them from being able to operate in a more flexible manner.
“That hammering away at the same objective and hoping to get a different result in different circumstances is perhaps defined as madness, but in military terms I found it certainly very surprising that they've done so.”