Posted on 04/26/2022 9:00:02 AM PDT by dennisw
317 officers of rank Jr Lieutenant or above died in Ukraine, Russian paper says Independent journalists analysed local government announcements, newspaper reports and social media posts to arrive at the staggering figure
Almost a third of the officer deaths came from senior ranks of major or above Highest-ranking casualties Russia has acknowledged are two Major Generals
Russia has lost more than 300 officers fighting in Ukraine, according to new data collected by an independent Russian newspaper.
In total, 317 officers of junior lieutenant rank and above have been killed in a little over two months of fighting, analysis by outlet MediaZona revealed today.
Almost a third came from the most senior grades - major or above - including at least two generals and the deputy commander of Russia's Black Sea fleet.
Vladimir Putin's army has suffered heavy losses since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, with the UK this week saying 15,000 troops have died.
MediaZona, which is currently blocked in Russia but continues to operate online, compiled its data by looking at public reports of troop deaths from local government officials, newspapers, or families posting on social media.
That means the figures will be far lower than the true total because of delays between the troops being killed and their deaths being reported, difficulties in identifying bodies, and deliberate cover-ups by Moscow.
In total, MediaZona found 1,744 reports of military deaths in Ukraine - higher than the Kremlin's official figure of 1,351 which it has not updated since late March.
It found 317 of those deaths were of officers, which accounts for almost a fifth of the total figure.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
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MediaZona believes that is because officer deaths are more-likely to be reported than those of foot-soldiers.
The highest-ranked deaths that Russia has acknowledged are of Andrei Sukhovetsky and Vladimir Frolov, who were both Major Generals.
Russia has also acknowledged the death of Captain 1st Rank Andrei Paly, the deputy commander of its Black Sea fleet, MediaZona said.
Ukraine claims to have killed a total of 10 generals, including two who it says died at the weekend on a strike of a command post near the city of Kherson.
The presence of a comparatively large number of senior officers so close to the front lines suggests that the readiness of Russian forces leaves much to be desired.
Russian Officer: You, young man, how lucky NG you in Russian army?
Recruit: 4 days comrade officer
Russian Officer: Good, you are promoted to General, g to the front
“317 officers of junior lieutenant rank and above have been killed”
If what I have read here on FR is true, Russia has few if any non-commissioned-officers in it’s army, the loss of Junior Lieutenants could be devastating. By my calculation, a junior Lieutenant is probably equal to a staff sergeant or maybe a corporal.
readiness of Russian forces leaves much to be desired.
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RGF only operates from the top down, there is no such thing as individual initiative. All orders must come from the commanding battalion officer.
No one of lower rank (officer or NCO) can make orders or take any action in the absence of those orders. Therefore, generals have to be close to the units they command.
By my calculation, a junior Lieutenant is probably equal to a staff sergeant or maybe a corporal.
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All RGF officers and troops are expendable - likely hold true for the VKF and the Navy. Promotions above raw enlistee are essentially permission slips to the sort and amounts of things they are ‘permitted’ to steal. Rank below General has nothing to do with command. Obedience is maintained through force (beatings, threats, torture, murder). The RGF is essentially a collection of thugs with differing toys, organized into gangs with fancy military-sounding names.
The rank of General is usually gained through bribery or outright purchase. Its not a merit based system. The higher the rank, the more things and quantities one is permitted to steal, as long as boundaries are maintained between ‘fiefdoms’. Cross that line and bad things happen.
Russia is “Katyning” themselves this time.
It’s been widely reported that Russia’s encrypted communication system either is not working or has been compromised by the enemy. So that could be another reason the senior officers are being forced to the front, if they have to communicate face-to-face for anything they don’t want the Ukrainians overhearing.
“Russia is “Katyning” themselves this time.”
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of savages.
L
Article is the worm on the hook.
Come at me bro and you’ll get some.
Early on in the invasion, Russian troops reportedly reduced their own ability to use encrypted phone handsets by destroying local 3G and 4G masts, knocking out the mobile data networks that the phones rely on. With the Russian military relying on unencrypted comms, Ukrainian intelligence services were able to intercept sensitive communications and in some cases broadcast them to the world — as happened with reports of the death of Russian general Vitaly Gerasimov.
Images from the conflict that were shared on social media also suggested that in some cases Russian troops were using unencrypted handheld radios for battlefield communications. The Russian Ministry of Defense previously implied that it had issued encrypted tactical radios to the majority of the Russian armed forces, but analysts at the Royal United Services Institute (a British defense and security think tank) observed there are indications that the delivery of the radios has been hampered by corruption.
317 officer deaths tell me that the purported Russian losses of several thousand is bunk. Based on this number, I’d say total losses are around three thousand or less.
Why does anyone care about this? One or 50,000 officers, it matters not at all. I know that somewhere there is a journalist attempting to earn a paycheck but they need to give this filthy WARPORN a rest. You should consider it too, Denny
317 gathered through “open source” scan of Russian media, that is, news stories and obituaries.
Thats certainly not everyone actually killed.
And about half of all killed in wars are usually “missing”, status to be resolved much later.
Because it is interesting as a point of data. There are patterns here, of rank, of position (as in what unit they belonged to; some of this indicates the fate of some Russian VDV units), the circumstances (engineer officers in Donets, probably in relation to bridging efforts), etc and etc.
If you arent interested then dont read these stories.
Has the Daily Mail published a similar article on Ukrainian losses for comparison?
Nyet
There are lots of noncoms. The problem is their experience, training and authority, or lack of it.
On the other hand the Russians seem to have only about as many “line” officers as any western army, that is, just one lieutenant per platoon, etc. The exception seems to be in technical branches, where there are often officers doing what western warrant officers and noncoms would be doing.
I don't want anybody to read the stories because it is propaganda attempting to hook Americans into supporting this insane old world "none of our business" madness.
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