The leadership of the Russian Army in the spotlight

There are no exact figures for Russian casualties in the invasion of Ukraine. The latest data provided by the Kremlin places them at a long thousand, while kyiv says they are around 15,800. US intelligence estimates that there are between 3,000 and 9,000. Those killed include some of Russia’s highest-ranking military officers. The Ukrainian authorities affirm that they have killed seven, apart from a Chechen commander, although officially Moscow has only recognized the loss of two: Major General Andriy Sukhovetsky and Andrei Paliy, deputy commander and number 2 of the Black Sea Fleet.

They are decorated strategists whose frontline presence commands attention. Historically, the commanders stay in the rear, deploying their troops on the combat table and rarely in the forefront of the fight. The last senior American military officer killed in combat was in Afghanistan in 2014 and you have to go back to the Vietnam War to find the previous one.

Why then do the Russian captains and generals expose themselves so openly? There are several theories. According to sources from European diplomacy told the magazine ‘Foreign Policy’, their presence in advanced positions is due to the difficulties in getting orders to the soldiers, something that is in line with the information that indicates that their communication systems they are outdated and easily traceable. This would have to do with the fact that many of the recruits sent by Moscow are young people who are doing military service. Inexperienced kids, poorly trained and with fragile morals who need to be instructed almost continuously.

The protagonists

Lieutenant General

Yakov Rezantsev

Commander of the 49th Combined Arms Division of the Russian Army, Yakov Rezantsev, fell on March 24 at the Chornobaivka airfield in the Kherson region. Aged 48, he was commissioned a lieutenant general in 2020 and has been decorated for his services in the wars in Abkhazia and Syria, among others.

Lieutenant General

Andrei Mordvichev

He is one of the most experienced commanders who have been sent to Ukraine and this despite being only 46 years old. Mordvichev was shot down on March 18 at the Chornobaivka airfield, the same place where his companion Yakov Rezantsev fell days later.

Major General

Oleg Mityaev

On March 15, at the hands of the Azov Battalion, Oleg Mityaev, a military man with extensive experience commanding airborne troops, fell. His intervention in the fighting in Donbas earned him several orders and medals of honor. He was the father of two girls.

Major General

Andriy Sukhovetsky

Aged 47, his death is one of those confirmed by the Kremlin and occurred on March 3 near Mariupol from a sniper shot. He entered the Russian Army in 1991 and since then has participated, among others, in the second war in Chechnya and in Syria. He leaves three children.

Major General

Vitaly Gerasimov

Born in 1977 and the father of a boy, General Vitaly Gerasimov was reportedly killed by Ukrainian troops on March 7 near Kharkov. A teacher by profession, he had a long military career that included his participation in the conflicts in Georgia, Crimea and Donbas.

Major General

Andrey Kolesnikov

On February 11, Andrei Kolesnikov turned 45 years old. A month later he was shot down by Ukrainian troops. He had extensive experience commanding armored units, including Cantemir’s famous Panzer Division, whose history dates back to World War II.

Subcomandante

Andrey Paliy

Andrei Paliy, number 2 of the Black Sea Fleet, is the first senior commander of the Russian Navy to fall in this conflict. His discharge has been recognized by the Kremlin. According to Ukraine, he was shot by a sniper during a military operation in Mariupol. He was 51 years old.

Commander

Magomed Tushayed

It would be the first high command of the ‘kadirovtsy’ fallen in Ukraine. Just turned 36, Tushayev joined the paramilitary group in 2017. In a few months he was promoted to commander and is one of the trusted men of the Chechen leader Rámzan Kadyrov.

The Russian military structure itself, with a centralized leadership, would also favor its presence on the front line. And it is that according to analysts from the United States, “middle managers have little or no ability to make decisions for themselves in combat”, so in compromising situations those with more stripes are forced to take a step forward. To all this it should be added that the military intervention in Ukraine is the first on a large scale that Russia has carried out in several decades, so even the generals are inexperienced in battle.

Be that as it may, the list of casualties among the Russian military leadership is greater than expected, although with all the reservations typical of a contest in which propaganda flows generously from both sides. One example: according to Ukraine, his troops killed Magomed Tushayev, commander of Chechen President Ramzán Kadyrov’s private guard, on February 26. A few days later the fearsome pro-Russian Army published several videos with him assuring that he was alive. No one has been able to verify whether the images were current or not, so his removal remains in doubt.