Posted on 04/02/2022 3:28:45 PM PDT by Widget Jr
Vladimir Putin has lost another colonel during fierce fighting in Ukraine as paratrooper Lt Col Vitaly Slabtsov, 43, was killed in action and has been buried with full military honours
Lt Colonel Vitaly Slabtsov, 43, was killed in action in Ukraine
Vladimir Putin has lost another colonel during fierce fighting in Ukraine, which serves as further proof that the Russian leader's war isn't going according to plan.
Lt Col Vitaly Slabtsov, 43, was an elite paratrooper buried with full military honours, say reports.
The body of the commander was placed in a closed coffin with a Russian flag draped over it, indicating he had suffered devastating wounds in the war. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.
The grave of Vitaly Slabtsov became the 12th from the Ryazan military who died during a special operation in Ukraine, according to reports.
Russian military troops at the funeral (Image: KP Ryazan)
Cemetery workers told reporters there are three rows of graves reserved for more victims, suggesting they are expecting another 70 funerals.
No details were given of how he died, but it is clear Putin’s forces are haemorrhaging senior officers, having lost some of his finest generals and colonels.
Slabtsov was from Ryazan in central Russia, home of Russian paratroopers.
Drills of the 83rd Guards Air Assault Brigade (Image: MIl.ru/e2w)
When he died he served with the 83rd separate air assault brigade based in Ussuriysk, in the extreme east of Russia. Its motto is Honour Over Life.
The news comes after 'Vladimir Putin's best' fighters have suffered heavy losses during fierce fighting in Ukraine, it has been reported.
The 331st Guards Parachute Regiment is considered among the most fearsome and well-trained in the Russian army, having fought for the city of Ilovaisk in the Donbas in 2014.
Floral tributes at the Colonel's funeral after he was killed in action (Image: KP Ryazan)
But their involvement in Russia's invasion of Ukraine has exposed how the invasion hasn't gone as planned due to the number of fatalities they've suffered.
The regiment's commanding officer, Col Sergei Sukharev and deputy Major Sergei Krylov were killed in Ukraine on March 13 - a major blow for any military unit.
The deaths of 39 members of the 331st will come as a blow to the Russian military, in part symbolically due to their reputation.
I think this is solid confirmation he was killed in action. So far Russia has reportedly lost seven or eight generals and up to ten colonels killed. The life expectancy of Russian general or colonel in Ukraine is looking less than a Second in Command of Al Queda when W. Bush was in office.
Thoughts, questions, and unrelated comments?
Good riddance.
Putin stormed into this war as if he was Stalin, but he’s looking more like Mussolini.
Sad news. Two things need to be exposed in Ukraine: unethical biological laboratories and unethical sources of money. How do you expose two huge crimes? War is the last option. Diplomacy is the first option. Putin and Ukraine need better diplomats.
The propaganda from the UK is completely unbelievable. That will proven to be true soon enough.
“Putin stormed into this war as if he was Stalin, but he’s looking more like Mussolini.”
Well, truth be told, Stalin wasn’t any great shakes at invasions, either (and I don’t consider driving the retreating Germans back to Germany an invasion, in the classic sense). Other than that, it is a good analogy.
I hope it was extremely painful.
L
” Lt Col Vitaly Slabtsov, 43”
Looks more like congestive heart failure. That or he pissed off an Ukranian Hooker.
No more Macho for him
The general dyed his hair for David Brooks. Nice touch, I think.
Russian conscripts do not want to fight so the high level officials have to fo to the front and lead them.
“The Russians are winning...easily.”
That’s why they’re still fighting after a month.
Snort.
L
“Putin stormed into this war as if he was Stalin, but he’s looking more like Mussolini.”
Not to argue the point, but if what we are reading is true, this is looking more and more like The Winter War. November 30, 1939 – March 13, 1940.
Little Finland gave the mighty Soviet army all they could handle for over 3 months.
I guess history calls it a stalemate.
There was an article here on FR a week or so ago that claimed that Joe Stalin’s Soviet army suffered much the same problems, that Vlad Putin’s Russian Republic army is suffering.
Putin really didn’t think his cunning plan through very well.
Which is stupid and probably a sign of desperation.
The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
George S. Patton
Yeh right....Patton went and hid...
Or more likely, their military is so top down they need senior officers on the front lines. Of course the Young Pioneers won’t accept that more logical conclusion.
Total conspiracy theory, but could Putin be intentionally positioning specific military leadership in riskier areas to clean house of any potential threats?
Hitlers stupid decision to invade Russia in 1941 gave the USSR many decisive battle losses initially but in the end advantages which won them the war:
1. The Russian people long oppressed suddenly saw their evil regime as protecting them. Stalin went from literally a terrifying dictator to their savior overnight
2. They became close Allies with Roosevelt and Churchill and began being sent mountains of high quality goods and weapons. Which they never could have created themselves
3. Due to #1 Russian conscripts suddenly had high morale—defending their motherland
I would say if Hitler would have just sat tight he would have won the war. Either the USSR never would have invaded and GR Britain eventually would have had to seek term or the USSR would have attacked with results similar to what we are seeing today.
So even though the topic is about war in the Ukraine today I see many connection to WW2.
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