Russian Major General Vladimir Frolov, of the 8th Army, was killed in combat in Ukraine and was buried in Russia on Saturday, according to a statement from the governor of St. Petersburg. Alexander Beglov's statement does not give details about when or where Frolov died.
As deputy commander of the 8th Army, Frolov led forces deployed in an area near Mariupol, the devastated port city that Russia besieged nearly three months ago.
Since the beginning of the conflict, Vladimir Putin's army has faced fierce resistance. Experts say that the Kremlin had difficulty progressing as quickly as it expected and lost more than 20 senior military figures along the way.
As explained by Jonathan Jackson, a specialist at Birmingham City University, it is very likely that the attack on Russian high ground commanders is part of a broader Ukrainian strategy to disrupt the command and control network of its enemies.
It is true that the high commanders have always been exposed to becoming targets on the battlefield, something that the Red Army used to a devastating effect on the ruins of Stalingrad in 1942, where Soviet snipers targeted both the lower and higher ranks. However, what differs between this conflict and those fought in the past is the proximity to the front line on which Russian generals appear to operate. The lack of confidence they have in their lines of communication and at the level of ground commanders — a result of chronic levels of corruption — is providing clear opportunities for the Ukrainian military to beat up the few competent military leaders.
Ukraine has several well-equipped combat units that would be able to carry out specialized missions, so it seems that any opportunity could be taken to launch a direct attack on the generals, designed to disrupt the lines of communication, cause confusion and further slow down the Russian advance.
It is also hugely symbolic and provides a clear example to Russian bases that their enemies can easily target high commanders, demonstrating a failure of the system to protect their senior staff. It is a clear symbol of a weak and incompetent communication system that is forcing generals to move from strategic to tactical decision-making.
This causes distrust in the effectiveness of chains of command, and doubt spreads much faster than conviction.
Below are all the officers who have reportedly been killed:
Andrei Sukhovetsky
This major general was the first high-ranking loss for the Russian military. He was decommissioned by a sniper.
Sukhovetsky was the commanding general of the 7th Airborne Division of Russia and deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army.
Vitaly Gerasimov
The second high-ranking Russian commander killed after Ukrainian military intelligence claimed he had been killed in Kharkiv.
Andrey Kolesnikov
The Ukrainian military reported his death on Twitter. He is believed to have been the commander of the 29th Combined Arms Army.
Oleg Mityaev
He died during the Russian assault on the city of Mariupol, according to Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Ukrainian troops managed to intercept a call from a Russian general and kill him, according to The New York Times.
Andrei Mordvichev
He was the commander of the 8th General Army of the Southern Military District of the Armed Forces and died as a result of “fire on the enemy,” the general staff of the Ukrainian army said on Twitter.
The general was reportedly killed when Ukrainian forces attacked an airfield in Chornobayivka, near Kherson airport, which is used as a temporary Russian base, according to Oleksiy Arestovych, a former presidential adviser, local newspaper Interfax reported.
Yakov Rezantsev
Ukraine claimed to have killed the lieutenant-general commander of the 49th Russian Combined Arms Army and one of its highest-ranking military officers, reported Illia Ponomarenko of the Kyiv Independent.
According to an aide of Volodomir Zelensky, his death occurred in Chornobaivka, a village in southern Ukraine. Rezantsev had said that the invasion would be over in hours, according to The Telegraph.
Dmitry Safronov
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported that the lieutenant colonel, commander of the 61st Separate Marine Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, was killed during the fighting in which Ukrainian forces reconquered the city of Chuhuiv, in the Kharkiv region.
Denis Glebov
In the same statement announcing Safronov's death, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said that Lieutenant Colonel Denis Glebov, deputy commander of the 11th Separate Airborne Assault, had also died.
Russian media reported that Glebov died while participating in a special operation in Donbas and that he was posthumously awarded the Order of Valor.
Konstantin Zizevsky
The Colonel of the Guard, commander of the 247th Air Assault Regiment, was reported dead during a military operation to “protect the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics”.
His death was confirmed on Instagram by Mikhail Vedernikov, the governor of the Pskov region.
Yuri Agarkov
The lieutenant colonel of the guard died alongside Konstantin Zizevsky, according to Mikhail Vedernikov.
Agarkov had previously served as Chief of Staff of the 56th Air Assault Brigade and commanded a motorized rifle regiment, according to a Russian media report.
Andrei Zakharov
Ukraine claimed to have killed the colonel in an ambush against a Russian armored column in a suburb of Kiev, according to The Guardian.
SergeiPorokh
The colonel, commander of the 12th Engineering Brigade of Russia, was reportedly killed in Ukraine.
Russian media outlet KP-Ufa reported that he was killed during a “special operation” in Ukraine, confirmed by some of his Russian colleagues on social media.
Sergei Sukharev
The colonel, of the 331 Parachute Assault Regiment in Kostroma, and his deputy, Major Sergei Krylov, were killed in combat in Ukraine, according to Russian state television.
Sukharev was a prominent Russian paratrooper commander whose regiment fought against Ukraine on the outskirts of Ilovaisk city in Donbas in 2014, the Ukrainian Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security (Stratcom) said in a statement, quoted by The Independent.
Ukrainian journalist Illia Ponomarenko said Sukharev was “responsible for the 2014 Ilovaisk massacre”.
Alexei Sharov
The colonel was killed by Ukrainian forces in Mariupol. He commanded the 810th Separate Order of Guards of the Zhukov Brigade of the Russian Marines.
His death was reported by the spokesman of the Odessa military administration, Sergey Bratchuk, on Telegram, and by various Ukrainian media outlets, including Ukrinform.
Dmitry Dormidontov
The lieutenant colonel, commander of a rocket artillery division, died after an explosion reached his refuge in Ukraine, the Evening Standard reported, citing a report from the local community of the Russian region of Tatarstan.
The report said that three officers were killed in the attack: a division commander, a battalion commander and an aircraft controller.
Igor Zharov
The lieutenant colonel, chief of staff of a regiment, was killed in Ukraine, according to an obituary published in Russia, according to the Evening Standard.
Local deputy Igor Igoshin said that Zharov received the Order of Valor posthumously.
Denis Kurilo
The colonel was “discharged along with more than 1,500 soldiers during the fighting near Kharkiv, according to the Ukrainian army.
Kurilo and the other soldiers belonged to the 200th Motorized Rifle Brigade, based in Pechenga, Ukraine said.
Magomed Tushaev
The general, Chechen warlord, was reportedly killed in a battle in Ukraine after a convoy of 56 Chechen tanks was destroyed near Hostomel, according to The Daily Mail.
Forces from the Russian region of Chechnya have supported Putin in his invasion of Ukraine.
Another reported warlord killed is Vladimir Zhonga, who led the Sparta Battalion, a pro-Russian militant group operating in the Kremlin-backed Donetsk People's Republic.
Vladimir Zhoga was reportedly shot dead in Volnovakha, according to The Daily Mail.
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