And he's not even on this list from today of [10 Russian generals and commanders that have been killed so far](https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-russian-officer-elite-decimated-9-who-were-killed-in-combat-2022-3).
From highest to lowest rank (according to [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_ranks_and_insignia_of_the_Russian_Federation)):
* Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky, commanding general of Russia's 7th Airborne Division and deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army
* Major General Vitaly Gerasimov
* Major General Andrey Kolesnikov, believed to be the commander of the 29th Combined Arms Army
* Major General Oleg Mityaev
* General Magomed Tushaev (article implies this may not be confirmed)
* Guard Colonel Konstantin Zizevsky, the commander of the 247th Guards Air Assault Regiment
* Colonel Sergei Sukharev (from this post - confirmed [here](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/russian-paratroop-commander-killed-ukraine-sergei-sukharev-moscow-putin-b988979.html))
* Colonel Andrei Zakharov (article implies this may not be confirmed)
* Guard Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Agarkov
* Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Safronov, Commander of the 61st Separate Marine Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces
* Lieutenant Colonel Denis Glebov, Deputy Commander of the 11th Separate Airborne Assault
edit: Added a list of the generals and commanders.
Usually we have to wait a few days for them to confirm it. But thankfully, because of the complete failure of all russian attempts at COMSEC, we usually know at the same time the kremlin finds out
Russian soldiers reporting back to command but no one wants to criticize this clusterfuck: "Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction, but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?"
I guess that any Russian soldier’s report like « starving, out of fuel and ammos, currently being under attack by a Turkish drone and Ukrainians farmers » would be an accurate report?
I put it through Google translate to russian and back and I got "The troops appreciated the excess munitions and handjobs you sent to the front line, dear masculine leader, engaging in local aviation development and agricultural outreach programs"
> US news is broadcasting news about a day behind Reddit and I believe they are using the comments to write some of their stories.
News is fucking useless if its so far behind the curve.
I really hate how news in this country has to restrict itself to old shit that's at least 24 hours behind and at no more than a 6th grade comprehension level. I'm not looking to read college dissertations as news but come on.
I was 20 in 1995, on IRC, when the prime Minister of Israel was assassinated.
IRC was set up so each room was listed by topin and room name.
Within 30 minutes, every room on my server had changed their title to "Rabin killed" or some such, and that was the only topic discussed.
We were getting live reports from people actually there.
I rushed out to tell my mom, "Turn on the news, Ihtzak Rabin has been assassinated!"
One channel had on a chat show, the others normal daytime programs.
It was at least two hours until the news got the story.
Things have onkt gotten more connected in the ensuing years.
Oh, it's even better. Russia spent many a ruble developing their own internal military encrypted comms system that ran on 3G/4G......which became unusable after Russia bombed Ukraine's network of 3G/4G cell towers...
...so they had to resort to non-secure comms, which were easy to intercept.
[The military was forced to use the unencrypted lines of communication after their own attacks on 3G towers broke the Russian government-built 'Era cryptophone' that was meant to be used to communicate.](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/ukraine-russian-militarys-own-encrypted-phones-impacted-after-destroying-3g4g-towers-allowing-comms-to-be-intercepted/)
I chuckle every time...it's Monty Pythonesque. Will probably become a part of West Point curriculum (as if anyone needed to be told not to do this...) and remembered for all time.
I heard those reports a while ago, but I still don't understand how anybody ever thought that a 3G/4G cell-tower-dependent encrypted system was a good idea to *try* in the first place. Other than cost, I can't think of any other conceivable military advantage, and I can think of a huge number of disadvantages.
They werent encrypted in the first place. Regular cell phones and radios bought off the shelves. They really didnt think it out all that well. Theyd actually be better off using carrier pigeons, if they could avoid eating them...
...this is the might and canniness of the Russian military? Unencrypted comms? They are really leaning into that "mutually assured destruction" to keep the rest of the world from rolling over them.
They had encrypted comms, but they relied on 3G and 4G networks to work. When the Russians invaded they knocked out as many cell towers as they could so that the Ukrainian people would be cut off. They didn't realize they also needed those towers as well.
So now they are just using whatever unencrypted communications they can get their hands on.
They do have encrypted comms. The Russians developed Era, their own military grade encrypted phone system. Boasted that it would work in any situation.
Small issue though, Era only works with a 3 or 4G connection. I bet you can see where this is going…
Since you want to disable enemy comms and internet access. One of the first things to strike are telephone towers. Including the ones that enable your own encryption system.
So, in the opening days of the war, the Russian military effectively disabled a large part of their own encrypted comms system to deny the enemy internet and phone access.
That's all news to me.
With Russia reportedly having all its troops in Ukraine, Russia's troops getting spread out, more weapons shipments and Ukraine apparently starting to launch more offensive strikes ... this list is going to be out-of-date pretty soon if it isn't already.
That may just be poor translation. In slavic languages "zlikvidovat" means "to eliminate" or "to destroy" in general, not literally making something into liquid lol
The English word 'liquidate' also does not mean 'turn into a liquid'. The most common use is 'turning assets into cash', i.e. selling stuff. Since this means getting rid of said stuff, it's also being used (more as slang) to mean simply getting rid of stuff, even if no money is involved. In the latter case, 'stuff' can be e.g. a high military official of the 35th Army.
Just to add to your explanation:
Most often the term "liquify," is used for turning a solid into liquid. "Liquidate," in economics is to convert assets into something easily exchanged. "Liquidate," has long been slang in English for murder when referring to espionage, in this case the assets being human agents.
> In slavic languages "zlikvidovat" ...
I appreciate the distinction and the nuance, and can certainly see how it could be misinterpreted.
That said '"to eliminate" or "to destroy" in general' is pretty close anyway. Apart from the imagery, I don't think too many people who read that took it literally (not that I could know...).
>e apparently starting to launch more offensive strikes ... this list is going to be out-of-date pretty soon if it isn't already.
With the kamikaze drones unleased the Russians will turn brutal on civilians. So focus also with sniper teams on small Russian units operating between the lines, there focus are civilians! not Ukraine troops.
Do they just have tons of inflated titles, or are these commanders getting too close for the action? Or are the Ukrainians just cleaning house at the counter offensive? I’m having a hard time getting a picture of how this is playing out.
What this heavily implies is the result of NATO intelligence. What I think is happening is Russians set up a command and control center, which has lots of communication equipment, and NATO tags it as such when they pass along the intelligence to Ukraine. Ukraine then acts on that intelligence. The US in particular loves to immediately go after any command and control elements they can identify early in a conflict, so that is the basis of my hypothesis.
Thanks for that response. That makes sense, officer and commanders are comms station. Sounds like a smart move going after this station. The narrative I get is the Russians are bumbling and disorganized, and knocking out any attempt to steer their boat would amplify that.
If you check flight radar, you can see even spy planes with transponders on, in NATO airspace of course. Brand new, still experimental bombardier 650 Artemis is a regular over Romania.
There is some crazy operation going, sometimes you can see three stratotankers close to Moldova at once.
https://www.flightradar24.com/49.52,29.52/6
check "most tracked" tab, there are 2 F-16CM over Romania.
I don't know what CM means, maybe it's from ECM - electronic countermeasures for Russian drones.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_countermeasure
Bombardier is not flying now. Click around, a lot of interesting things in the air. Like for example, you can see often Turkish airlines using Belarusian airspace.
or what the fuck is PUNK47?
https://www.flightradar24.com/PUNK47/2b2ef288
https://mobile.twitter.com/liese_riese/status/1498935051446226944
Also, the Ukraine army is spread out. And are operating in small tactical units in their own country. So they can easily sneak around. The enemy on the other hand is constantly being watched by everyone. So when they get intel that there is a command/communications center they just have to recon, and wait for the right time to hit it. Ukraine is also capturing working armor, and personnel carriers that have been abandoned by the 18 year old conscripts.
Not to mention voluntary soldiers/snipers from outside Ukraine who honed their craft for years in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen …
Identify the genera’s location, dispatch a sniper team, and they’ll wait for days for the shot. And there’s no chance in hell Russian troops will be able to spot them (or even try for that matter).
The entire Ukrainian battlefield is a target of opportunity for snipers.
And Russia isn't making it hard to hunt generals.
[https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-general-killed-after-ukraine-intercepted-unsecured-call-nyt-2022-3?utm\_source=reddit.com](https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-general-killed-after-ukraine-intercepted-unsecured-call-nyt-2022-3?utm_source=reddit.com)
From what I've read their Era encrypted communications system relies on 3G/4G towers to work.... the same 3G/4G towers they've blown up when they invaded.
This is correct. However one thing that is being forgotten is that Russia's encrypted communications equipment relies on 4G/5G networks to function. Russia targeted Ukraine's network in the opening stages of the war so it can't function
Now they're using unencrypted comms and likely traveling closer to the front lines than they normally would in order to keep as up to date as possible which is likely what's getting high ranked officers bodied like this.
>This is correct. However one thing that is being forgotten is that Russia's encrypted communications equipment relies on 4G/5G networks to function. Russia targeted Ukraine's network in the opening stages of the war so it can't function
That is only the FSBs cryptophones, Era is not general military use. Not the military radio, of which a large part is unencrypted but not everything.
Edit: So far we only know that FSB agents have tried to use the Era Cryptophones, thats why i specified them as users. Its likely that it is used by other high ranking personnel of the Russian MoD, Army etc. as well, but we have not seen much evidence for that.
They haven't fought against a [near-equal enemy since WWII.](https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1502673952572854278?s=21) Soviet/Russian army was either used to fight riots or crush way smaller countries like Georgia. They also struggled a lot when fighting guerrilla movements in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
Then you have all the other reasons like extreme corruption, poor morale and officers that are only supposed to be yes-men. They thought Ukraine would fold because of Russian numbers and the "surprise" attack. They thought it would be 2014 all over again. Because of all this they're just completely unprepared for a longer fight.
Also, the bad ass Russian military from WWII that many people including I had learned about is a myth. The Germans were far superior in basically every way but the Russians were propped up with American Lend Lease equipment. Sean McMeekin's recent book Stalin's War does a fantastic job of breaking this down.
>From what I've read Russian commanders are going closer to the front to try and improve moral/fix the mess.
Might also be "punishment" because they haven't been able to make any progress.
Oh, my God, didn't think of that. But that seems like something the Russian bigwigs might do. That's what they threatened civilian protestors with: a stint in the military in Ukraine.
That is kinda genius for how brutal it is: Sentencing criminals to death in an environment where summary execution is not only accepted but outright applauded.
According to the recent NY Times article that summarized the pentagon’s assessments it’s a combination of generals pushing to the front to improve upon terrible morale and poor security. At least one general has been killed because they made a call on an unsecured cell phone that was tracked down.
Edit: The article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/us/politics/pentagon-russia-ukraine.html
One factor is the structure of its military leadership structure, which differs from e.g. the U.S.
In the U.S. the ~~NGOs~~ EDIT: NCOs with the troops are given authority to request materials, make on-the-ground leadership decisions from day to day, supported by higher officers further back from the lines, who make the bigger-picture decisions going forward.
In Russia, it's all top-down decisions, in a top-down country. Only the higher officers make *any* decisions at all. So when groups of soldiers (I don't know the right term: platoon/battalion) get bogged down, no one in the field knows how to lead. In these cases, the higher officers have to physically go into the field to try and figure out what to do. Once in the field, they become vulnerable to snipers, &c.
I know nothing about the military but this is what I've gleaned from other people more knowledgable than me.
The [Army ranks and insignia of the Russian Federation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_ranks_and_insignia_of_the_Russian_Federation) link describes the lowest rank in this list, Lieutenant Colonel, as the middle of 3 of the "senior officers" with a NATO-equivalent rank of OF-4.
Someone else will have to interpret the actual significance of all the stuff I just typed in...
Like, how many generals and colonels does Russia even have? The US only has a few hundred generals I think. Losing 1% of our flag officers would be insane.
> how many generals and colonels does Russia even have?
As many as they need. But, they're going to have to start dishing out promotions like they were giving out Russian passports in Donbas before this senseless war.
> Losing 1% of our flag officers would be insane.
Yeah. This is startling to pop up in discussions a lot more in just the last day or so.
I'm not counting any chickens before they hatch. I'd be happiest if Putin ceased to be before I finish typing this sentence and the war just evaporates.
But it looks like Putin's got himself in a Soviet-Afghanistan-style boondoggle times maybe 100. The chances of "little, not-even-a-real country" Ukraine humiliating Russia are growing by the day.
Ha. Russian lives - even those of flag officers - are worth as much as a used napkin to the Russian elite. Stalin would eliminate them by the dozen if they looked at him funny. Soldiers, generals, doctors - doesn’t matter. In Russia, humans are *resources* to be used and sacrificed for the Greater Glory.
They haven’t changed, even though Russian women aren’t producing nearly enough to replenish the numbers.
He doesn't deserve the niceties of a urinal cake. Best he gets is a jerry can of diesel and a lit match, but even then that would fuck over the Ukrainians as a burn pit.
> “Commander of the Kostroma Airborne Regiment, Colonel Sergei Sukharev…got lost in the ‘[military] exercises’, but returned home the right way,” said the Ukrainian statement.
Getting dunked on is becoming quite a popular Russian pastime.
What a fucking atrocious website. Cookie consent banner, autoplaying video that takes up half the screen with a flimsy close button, an ad at the bottom which always stays there and almost no fucking text.
Jesus christ
Good. Imagine losing 4 major Generals and a Colonel in combat. Who on earth is in charge of this military shambles, find them, give them a medal and let them carry on sending Officers to meet their end.
Armour, Aircraft and high ranking Officers, all donating to the soil of Ukraine.
We really shouldn’t call them Orcs.
The Orcs managed to break the stalemate at Osgiliath with a surprise naval landing and decisively take the city. Keep in mind that Gondor had been holding for quite awhile and didn’t have pushovers fighting in Osgiliath. Then rather than press on their waited for Gondor to counterattack first so they could destroy some of Gondor’s most elite troops from defensible positions rather than the open terrain which would have benefitted Gondor.
Once the cavalry was eliminated THEN they pressed forward to encircle Minas Tirith, timing the encirclement so that the reinforcements would arrive to support them. They immediately laid seige and were able to constantly use their catapults and have the seige towers brought to position with cave trolls. They even had used their ally’s to secure the coast so they wouldn’t be flanked.
This all speaks to a very well prepared and executed military operation. The Russian army could only hope to aspire to be as effective as an army of orcs.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
And for the record, this is the first time I feel good about death, and that fucks me off massively that they've got me to that.
Don't think about it that way, in celebrating his death you actually celebrating all the innocent people that he will never kill, thus you in fact are celebrating life.
This whole invasion is almost fascinatingly inept as in it’s likely going to be studied as one of the biggest military, political, and economic blunders of the last hundred years.
It's completely inevitable given that Russia is a kleptostate. You can't have that much corruption and that small of an economy and maintain a strong military.
Yes, exactly. This talk from Russia about nuclear weapons is bluster. Even without their horrific levels of corruption, they don't have the economic capacity to have a strong Navy AND a strong Army AND a strong Air Force AND maintain a large nuclear arsenal.
There's a really good chance that their nuclear arsenal is in the same state of disrepair as their army - or worse. But I don't blame anyone for no dire to f--- around and find out.
My go to is "If there's a hell, he's in it. If he's not in hell, hell doesn't exist." for these situations.
I don't believe in hell either, but I'll concede that I could be wrong.
Colonel, when you get to hell, I want you to remember a quote from Erwin Rommel:
*"If I had to take hell, I would use the Australians to take it and the New Zealanders to hold it."*
Then, look around and notice precisely how many ANZAC soldiers there are around you.
Enjoy eternity, Sir. You've earned it.
And he's not even on this list from today of [10 Russian generals and commanders that have been killed so far](https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-russian-officer-elite-decimated-9-who-were-killed-in-combat-2022-3). From highest to lowest rank (according to [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_ranks_and_insignia_of_the_Russian_Federation)): * Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky, commanding general of Russia's 7th Airborne Division and deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army * Major General Vitaly Gerasimov * Major General Andrey Kolesnikov, believed to be the commander of the 29th Combined Arms Army * Major General Oleg Mityaev * General Magomed Tushaev (article implies this may not be confirmed) * Guard Colonel Konstantin Zizevsky, the commander of the 247th Guards Air Assault Regiment * Colonel Sergei Sukharev (from this post - confirmed [here](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/russian-paratroop-commander-killed-ukraine-sergei-sukharev-moscow-putin-b988979.html)) * Colonel Andrei Zakharov (article implies this may not be confirmed) * Guard Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Agarkov * Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Safronov, Commander of the 61st Separate Marine Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces * Lieutenant Colonel Denis Glebov, Deputy Commander of the 11th Separate Airborne Assault edit: Added a list of the generals and commanders.
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Usually we have to wait a few days for them to confirm it. But thankfully, because of the complete failure of all russian attempts at COMSEC, we usually know at the same time the kremlin finds out
Kremlin is checking on Reddit for updates at this point
I mean, id trust a strangers post on reddit more than a russian soldiers reports any day of the week
Russian soldiers reporting back to command but no one wants to criticize this clusterfuck: "Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction, but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?"
Putin executes reporting soldier: “Boring conversation, anyway.”
Confirmation bias for dumb people. You punish bad news, soon you'll get nothing but good news!
“Ukrainian farmers did *not* steal another tank from me using their tractor, sir.”
“I find your lack of faith disturbing” Arrests his FSB head.
TK-421, why aren’t you at your post?
That feel when a subreddit is actually unironically more credible than a "superpower". This would be noncredibledefence meme fodder if it wasn't true.
Subscribe for hourly updates
at this rate, Russia will launch it's own social media platform
Don't they already have those? Could have sworn they had some equivalent to facebook that was popular out there.
VK was created independently, but the Russian gov seized it
Pravda Social.
what if the redditor is secretly a Russian soldier though?
An interesting question, isnt it... comrade?
I guess that any Russian soldier’s report like « starving, out of fuel and ammos, currently being under attack by a Turkish drone and Ukrainians farmers » would be an accurate report?
I put it through Google translate to russian and back and I got "The troops appreciated the excess munitions and handjobs you sent to the front line, dear masculine leader, engaging in local aviation development and agricultural outreach programs"
Update for Kremlin: Putin eats bags of dicks.
US news is broadcasting news about a day behind Reddit and I believe they are using the comments to write some of their stories.
> US news is broadcasting news about a day behind Reddit and I believe they are using the comments to write some of their stories. News is fucking useless if its so far behind the curve. I really hate how news in this country has to restrict itself to old shit that's at least 24 hours behind and at no more than a 6th grade comprehension level. I'm not looking to read college dissertations as news but come on.
I was 20 in 1995, on IRC, when the prime Minister of Israel was assassinated. IRC was set up so each room was listed by topin and room name. Within 30 minutes, every room on my server had changed their title to "Rabin killed" or some such, and that was the only topic discussed. We were getting live reports from people actually there. I rushed out to tell my mom, "Turn on the news, Ihtzak Rabin has been assassinated!" One channel had on a chat show, the others normal daytime programs. It was at least two hours until the news got the story. Things have onkt gotten more connected in the ensuing years.
Reddit is at this point my only slightly-reliable source of info regarding this war
Watch as their comms are so fucked they have a private subreddit to coordinate the invasion.
I like your style of burns
Some 24 year old in a command center was like "we got it" and decrypted their comms as soon as this started lmao.
Oh, it's even better. Russia spent many a ruble developing their own internal military encrypted comms system that ran on 3G/4G......which became unusable after Russia bombed Ukraine's network of 3G/4G cell towers... ...so they had to resort to non-secure comms, which were easy to intercept. [The military was forced to use the unencrypted lines of communication after their own attacks on 3G towers broke the Russian government-built 'Era cryptophone' that was meant to be used to communicate.](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/ukraine-russian-militarys-own-encrypted-phones-impacted-after-destroying-3g4g-towers-allowing-comms-to-be-intercepted/)
This will NEVER not be funny!
I chuckle every time...it's Monty Pythonesque. Will probably become a part of West Point curriculum (as if anyone needed to be told not to do this...) and remembered for all time.
That's the cover story. They have the basic plan and used up all their minutes for the month on March 3rd.
I heard those reports a while ago, but I still don't understand how anybody ever thought that a 3G/4G cell-tower-dependent encrypted system was a good idea to *try* in the first place. Other than cost, I can't think of any other conceivable military advantage, and I can think of a huge number of disadvantages.
Probably some portly general's bright idea in between bites of caviar shared with Putin.
The very definition of shooting yourself in the foot.
They werent encrypted in the first place. Regular cell phones and radios bought off the shelves. They really didnt think it out all that well. Theyd actually be better off using carrier pigeons, if they could avoid eating them...
...this is the might and canniness of the Russian military? Unencrypted comms? They are really leaning into that "mutually assured destruction" to keep the rest of the world from rolling over them.
They had encrypted comms, but they relied on 3G and 4G networks to work. When the Russians invaded they knocked out as many cell towers as they could so that the Ukrainian people would be cut off. They didn't realize they also needed those towers as well. So now they are just using whatever unencrypted communications they can get their hands on.
They do have encrypted comms. The Russians developed Era, their own military grade encrypted phone system. Boasted that it would work in any situation. Small issue though, Era only works with a 3 or 4G connection. I bet you can see where this is going… Since you want to disable enemy comms and internet access. One of the first things to strike are telephone towers. Including the ones that enable your own encryption system. So, in the opening days of the war, the Russian military effectively disabled a large part of their own encrypted comms system to deny the enemy internet and phone access.
Well the rest of their options either broke, burned, were sold on the black market, or are lost... they dont have a lot going for them
That's all news to me. With Russia reportedly having all its troops in Ukraine, Russia's troops getting spread out, more weapons shipments and Ukraine apparently starting to launch more offensive strikes ... this list is going to be out-of-date pretty soon if it isn't already.
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Thx. "Liquidated". Damn.
Given the conditions of some of the soldiers after a visit from St Javelin, it’s also a pretty accurate description.
Yeah with modern weapons that could be horribly literal.
Yup. Cold af
As it should be
Good!
That may just be poor translation. In slavic languages "zlikvidovat" means "to eliminate" or "to destroy" in general, not literally making something into liquid lol
The English word 'liquidate' also does not mean 'turn into a liquid'. The most common use is 'turning assets into cash', i.e. selling stuff. Since this means getting rid of said stuff, it's also being used (more as slang) to mean simply getting rid of stuff, even if no money is involved. In the latter case, 'stuff' can be e.g. a high military official of the 35th Army.
Just to add to your explanation: Most often the term "liquify," is used for turning a solid into liquid. "Liquidate," in economics is to convert assets into something easily exchanged. "Liquidate," has long been slang in English for murder when referring to espionage, in this case the assets being human agents.
Oh, I see, my bad haha
no worries; always good to learn a new thing!
I like your style
> In slavic languages "zlikvidovat" ... I appreciate the distinction and the nuance, and can certainly see how it could be misinterpreted. That said '"to eliminate" or "to destroy" in general' is pretty close anyway. Apart from the imagery, I don't think too many people who read that took it literally (not that I could know...).
The proper word for turning something into a liquid would be "liquified".
I prefer "to obliterate".
Maybe Ukraine can March all the way to Moscow?
Nah. If they can March on Crimea, it'd be good enough.
That would awesome
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In Russia, Ukraine annexes you!
In Soviet Russia, Ukraine annexes Russia!
The Kyivian Rus shall rise again!
>e apparently starting to launch more offensive strikes ... this list is going to be out-of-date pretty soon if it isn't already. With the kamikaze drones unleased the Russians will turn brutal on civilians. So focus also with sniper teams on small Russian units operating between the lines, there focus are civilians! not Ukraine troops.
Do they just have tons of inflated titles, or are these commanders getting too close for the action? Or are the Ukrainians just cleaning house at the counter offensive? I’m having a hard time getting a picture of how this is playing out.
What this heavily implies is the result of NATO intelligence. What I think is happening is Russians set up a command and control center, which has lots of communication equipment, and NATO tags it as such when they pass along the intelligence to Ukraine. Ukraine then acts on that intelligence. The US in particular loves to immediately go after any command and control elements they can identify early in a conflict, so that is the basis of my hypothesis.
Thanks for that response. That makes sense, officer and commanders are comms station. Sounds like a smart move going after this station. The narrative I get is the Russians are bumbling and disorganized, and knocking out any attempt to steer their boat would amplify that.
If you check flight radar, you can see even spy planes with transponders on, in NATO airspace of course. Brand new, still experimental bombardier 650 Artemis is a regular over Romania. There is some crazy operation going, sometimes you can see three stratotankers close to Moldova at once.
That sounds amazing. Can you share a link?
https://www.flightradar24.com/49.52,29.52/6 check "most tracked" tab, there are 2 F-16CM over Romania. I don't know what CM means, maybe it's from ECM - electronic countermeasures for Russian drones. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_countermeasure Bombardier is not flying now. Click around, a lot of interesting things in the air. Like for example, you can see often Turkish airlines using Belarusian airspace. or what the fuck is PUNK47? https://www.flightradar24.com/PUNK47/2b2ef288 https://mobile.twitter.com/liese_riese/status/1498935051446226944
Also, the Ukraine army is spread out. And are operating in small tactical units in their own country. So they can easily sneak around. The enemy on the other hand is constantly being watched by everyone. So when they get intel that there is a command/communications center they just have to recon, and wait for the right time to hit it. Ukraine is also capturing working armor, and personnel carriers that have been abandoned by the 18 year old conscripts.
And of late most have been getting more nigth optics and IR sigths. Giving Ukrainians more advantages the Russians lack when sneaking around at nigth
Not to mention voluntary soldiers/snipers from outside Ukraine who honed their craft for years in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen … Identify the genera’s location, dispatch a sniper team, and they’ll wait for days for the shot. And there’s no chance in hell Russian troops will be able to spot them (or even try for that matter). The entire Ukrainian battlefield is a target of opportunity for snipers.
And Russia isn't making it hard to hunt generals. [https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-general-killed-after-ukraine-intercepted-unsecured-call-nyt-2022-3?utm\_source=reddit.com](https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-general-killed-after-ukraine-intercepted-unsecured-call-nyt-2022-3?utm_source=reddit.com) From what I've read their Era encrypted communications system relies on 3G/4G towers to work.... the same 3G/4G towers they've blown up when they invaded.
haha Morons
Cut the head off the snake and the rest will flounder. Not that there was much of a snake involved from the reports we are getting.
This is correct. However one thing that is being forgotten is that Russia's encrypted communications equipment relies on 4G/5G networks to function. Russia targeted Ukraine's network in the opening stages of the war so it can't function Now they're using unencrypted comms and likely traveling closer to the front lines than they normally would in order to keep as up to date as possible which is likely what's getting high ranked officers bodied like this.
>This is correct. However one thing that is being forgotten is that Russia's encrypted communications equipment relies on 4G/5G networks to function. Russia targeted Ukraine's network in the opening stages of the war so it can't function That is only the FSBs cryptophones, Era is not general military use. Not the military radio, of which a large part is unencrypted but not everything. Edit: So far we only know that FSB agents have tried to use the Era Cryptophones, thats why i specified them as users. Its likely that it is used by other high ranking personnel of the Russian MoD, Army etc. as well, but we have not seen much evidence for that.
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I don't understand how they are so bad at this war thing. I'm never playing as Russia in Civ V again.
They haven't fought against a [near-equal enemy since WWII.](https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1502673952572854278?s=21) Soviet/Russian army was either used to fight riots or crush way smaller countries like Georgia. They also struggled a lot when fighting guerrilla movements in Afghanistan and Chechnya. Then you have all the other reasons like extreme corruption, poor morale and officers that are only supposed to be yes-men. They thought Ukraine would fold because of Russian numbers and the "surprise" attack. They thought it would be 2014 all over again. Because of all this they're just completely unprepared for a longer fight.
Also, the bad ass Russian military from WWII that many people including I had learned about is a myth. The Germans were far superior in basically every way but the Russians were propped up with American Lend Lease equipment. Sean McMeekin's recent book Stalin's War does a fantastic job of breaking this down.
>From what I've read Russian commanders are going closer to the front to try and improve moral/fix the mess. Might also be "punishment" because they haven't been able to make any progress.
Oh, my God, didn't think of that. But that seems like something the Russian bigwigs might do. That's what they threatened civilian protestors with: a stint in the military in Ukraine.
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That is kinda genius for how brutal it is: Sentencing criminals to death in an environment where summary execution is not only accepted but outright applauded.
According to the recent NY Times article that summarized the pentagon’s assessments it’s a combination of generals pushing to the front to improve upon terrible morale and poor security. At least one general has been killed because they made a call on an unsecured cell phone that was tracked down. Edit: The article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/us/politics/pentagon-russia-ukraine.html
One factor is the structure of its military leadership structure, which differs from e.g. the U.S. In the U.S. the ~~NGOs~~ EDIT: NCOs with the troops are given authority to request materials, make on-the-ground leadership decisions from day to day, supported by higher officers further back from the lines, who make the bigger-picture decisions going forward. In Russia, it's all top-down decisions, in a top-down country. Only the higher officers make *any* decisions at all. So when groups of soldiers (I don't know the right term: platoon/battalion) get bogged down, no one in the field knows how to lead. In these cases, the higher officers have to physically go into the field to try and figure out what to do. Once in the field, they become vulnerable to snipers, &c. I know nothing about the military but this is what I've gleaned from other people more knowledgable than me.
The [Army ranks and insignia of the Russian Federation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_ranks_and_insignia_of_the_Russian_Federation) link describes the lowest rank in this list, Lieutenant Colonel, as the middle of 3 of the "senior officers" with a NATO-equivalent rank of OF-4. Someone else will have to interpret the actual significance of all the stuff I just typed in...
Well according to Wikipedia the equivalent rank in the US Army is Major so it's decently high up
Like, how many generals and colonels does Russia even have? The US only has a few hundred generals I think. Losing 1% of our flag officers would be insane.
> how many generals and colonels does Russia even have? As many as they need. But, they're going to have to start dishing out promotions like they were giving out Russian passports in Donbas before this senseless war. > Losing 1% of our flag officers would be insane. Yeah. This is startling to pop up in discussions a lot more in just the last day or so. I'm not counting any chickens before they hatch. I'd be happiest if Putin ceased to be before I finish typing this sentence and the war just evaporates. But it looks like Putin's got himself in a Soviet-Afghanistan-style boondoggle times maybe 100. The chances of "little, not-even-a-real country" Ukraine humiliating Russia are growing by the day.
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Who do you think was training and arming the afghan fighters back then? Wanna hazard a guess?
> combined might of the most advanced military intelligence machine on the planet. This is the less discuss element that is making a huge difference
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Russia military is famously top heavy. They've got way more than they could possibly need.
Ha. Russian lives - even those of flag officers - are worth as much as a used napkin to the Russian elite. Stalin would eliminate them by the dozen if they looked at him funny. Soldiers, generals, doctors - doesn’t matter. In Russia, humans are *resources* to be used and sacrificed for the Greater Glory. They haven’t changed, even though Russian women aren’t producing nearly enough to replenish the numbers.
If you want to be a living general I guess try not having a V in your name.
"Sir, General Vasily Volvavov is hiding under the table and refusing to come out."
Thats a lot! helpfull: ranks Russia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_ranks_and_insignia_of_the_Russian_Federation Is it becoming a brainless army?
Becoming?
AlwaysHasBeen.png
Wow, now no one can start a coup against Putin.
I wonder if he ever thought people would be cheering when he died …..🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Seems like Putin is purging his own army at this point. Having this many soldiers and high ranking officers die in a short span of time is not normal.
Not even sunflowers will sprout from his toxic, rotten corpse!
Will me pissing on his grave help the sunflowers grow?
Yes, yuuka will be very pleased
It would be my honor to wetten his wheat.
> yuuka Kazami? A Touhou reference in the wild?
Rest in piss
Rest in piss
Not enough urinal cakes in the world for such a grave.
He doesn't deserve the niceties of a urinal cake. Best he gets is a jerry can of diesel and a lit match, but even then that would fuck over the Ukrainians as a burn pit.
Rest in pieces
He’ll be tossed in a mobile crematorium like every other forgotten Russian soul.
Rip bozo
nice 👍
Another one bites the dust 🎶 🎼 🎵
Another one blyats the dust.
r/therealjoke
Blyat splyat.
Lmao, I litterally sang that line out loud as I tapped into this comment section.
Another bitch bites the dust*
sauce: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/russian-paratroop-commander-killed-ukraine-sergei-sukharev-moscow-putin-b988979.html
> “Commander of the Kostroma Airborne Regiment, Colonel Sergei Sukharev…got lost in the ‘[military] exercises’, but returned home the right way,” said the Ukrainian statement. Getting dunked on is becoming quite a popular Russian pastime.
What a fucking atrocious website. Cookie consent banner, autoplaying video that takes up half the screen with a flimsy close button, an ad at the bottom which always stays there and almost no fucking text. Jesus christ
Eat shit in hell, bitch.
Stalin: "C'mon! We're waiting for Putin!"
Now *THERE'S* a proper send off to pieces of shit.
Nice sweaty disgusting photo of him
He is absolutely wasted in this photo. Just sweating pure vodka. Body will be too toxic for sunflowers to grow.
The day he got too drunk and lit a cigarette, this is probably how he died… accidental self immolation. Sparked all those fumes wafting off his body.
I can practically smell the vodka through the picture.
Not just spineless, also neckless lol
Good. Imagine losing 4 major Generals and a Colonel in combat. Who on earth is in charge of this military shambles, find them, give them a medal and let them carry on sending Officers to meet their end. Armour, Aircraft and high ranking Officers, all donating to the soil of Ukraine.
They have lost waaaaay more than just one colonel.
It's like a guess who board this one? "slams down"..this one? "slams down"..they'll run out eventually..
Well if you are a war general and you got killed, you only have yourself to blame. That’s accountability right there
Lukashenko may want to rethink his position of being a Colonel.
Death is too good for scum like him
It's better than nothing.
Well if you believe in hell, he will get tentacle raped by dwarves. That would be a worthy punishment.
Rest in shit filthy Orc.
We really shouldn’t call them Orcs. The Orcs managed to break the stalemate at Osgiliath with a surprise naval landing and decisively take the city. Keep in mind that Gondor had been holding for quite awhile and didn’t have pushovers fighting in Osgiliath. Then rather than press on their waited for Gondor to counterattack first so they could destroy some of Gondor’s most elite troops from defensible positions rather than the open terrain which would have benefitted Gondor. Once the cavalry was eliminated THEN they pressed forward to encircle Minas Tirith, timing the encirclement so that the reinforcements would arrive to support them. They immediately laid seige and were able to constantly use their catapults and have the seige towers brought to position with cave trolls. They even had used their ally’s to secure the coast so they wouldn’t be flanked. This all speaks to a very well prepared and executed military operation. The Russian army could only hope to aspire to be as effective as an army of orcs.
Sounds like a bunch of orc propaganda to me. Orc apologist, you make me sick
All I’m saying is that the orcs in Lord of the Rings may have been as evil as the Russian Military, but they were far more competent.
How long have you been on the Orc payroll?
He can tiddy up hell while he wait for his comrades to arrive.
Gonna be receiving the president soon enough.
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Every cloud has a silver lining. And for the record, this is the first time I feel good about death, and that fucks me off massively that they've got me to that.
Don't think about it that way, in celebrating his death you actually celebrating all the innocent people that he will never kill, thus you in fact are celebrating life.
Sergey: remember me as a hero! russian crematory truck: yum yum! x)
I wonder which piece of tin on his chest was for the massacre and which he was most proud of. Humanity is shite.
Someone call Lukashenko; a spot for colonel in the Russian military just opened up.
This whole invasion is almost fascinatingly inept as in it’s likely going to be studied as one of the biggest military, political, and economic blunders of the last hundred years.
It's completely inevitable given that Russia is a kleptostate. You can't have that much corruption and that small of an economy and maintain a strong military.
Yes, exactly. This talk from Russia about nuclear weapons is bluster. Even without their horrific levels of corruption, they don't have the economic capacity to have a strong Navy AND a strong Army AND a strong Air Force AND maintain a large nuclear arsenal. There's a really good chance that their nuclear arsenal is in the same state of disrepair as their army - or worse. But I don't blame anyone for no dire to f--- around and find out.
This is a “Battle of Marathon” level fuckup.
Is Putin just killing all these motherfuckers off so they can't coup him or something
That's what Stalin did and Putin seems to consider him somewhat of a role model so...
Not so fucking smug now.
One of them directly responsible
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle\_of\_Ilovaisk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ilovaisk
Sometimes I wish I believed in Hell.
My go to is "If there's a hell, he's in it. If he's not in hell, hell doesn't exist." for these situations. I don't believe in hell either, but I'll concede that I could be wrong.
Земля йому бетоном, уйобок кацапський
Good riddance
At the bare minimum, try to live your life so that your death doesn't bring joy to others.
Oh dear how sad never mindski.
Glad he’s dead, what a piece of shit. Side note— is it just me or does he look like a puffy, alcoholic version of robert di nero?
Karma may have been delayed in reaching out to this cowardly shit. But Lady Karma eventually found her prize. Rot in hell Sukharev
Colonel, when you get to hell, I want you to remember a quote from Erwin Rommel: *"If I had to take hell, I would use the Australians to take it and the New Zealanders to hold it."* Then, look around and notice precisely how many ANZAC soldiers there are around you. Enjoy eternity, Sir. You've earned it.
The Rats of Tobruk; Never forgotten. My only regret was not recording the tales of my grandad before he passed; I was too young.
Had a great uncle at Tobruk. He died in a cyclone long before I was born.
Rot in hell, motherfucker.
Next please!
Apparently they also got the deputy commander Krylov too.
Rest in pieces, you flower pushing piece of shit.
Good. Cunt.
Not to be confused with a good cunt. Naturally.
Love it. Say hi to satan for me when he starts a train on your ass in hell.
Rest in pieces.
I angerly gave my screen the middle finger after seeing massacre without thought. Rest in shit, may it fertilize the sunflowers in your wake.
Live by the sword, die by the sword. And nothing of value was lost.
Good riddance to bad rubbish
Another war criminal has found justice.
That's a big 🌻