Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, Ukrainian officials have said that their forces have killed at least seven Russian generals, according to The Washington Post.
The Ukrainian forces have been doing everything they can to fight back against Russia, as the New York Times reported on March 16 that more than 7,000 Russian troops have been killed as well. That number could be as high as 15,000 Russian troops as of March 24, per The Washington Post.
Markiyan Lubkivsky, a spokesperson for the Ukraine Ministry of Defense, told The Washington Post that "at least 15 senior Russian commanders have been killed in the field."
The seven Russian generals that have been killed are Magomed Tushayev, Andrei Sukhovetsky, Vitaly Gerasimov, Andrey Kolesnikov, Oleg Mityaev, Yakov Rezanstev and Andrei Mordvichev, according to Ukrainian and Western officials.
Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office told The Washington Post that the number of Russian generals that have been killed is slowing down any progress of their invasion.
"The death of such commanders quickly becomes public knowledge and it is very difficult to hide," Arestovych said. "Unlike the death of an ordinary soldier, it makes an outsized impression."
He added that the death of any general can set the Russian invasion back "three or four or five days."
Russian government and media have only confirmed the death of one general, and added that just 1,351 troops have died so far.
A person in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inner circle told The Wall Street Journal that a Ukrainian special forces operations team has been going after Russian officers.
"They look for high profile generals, pilots, artillery commanders," the person said. "They have all their details, names, army numbers."
Ukrainian troops continue to target top Russian officers and generals, while a senior Western official said "it is highly unusual" that this many have already been killed. It's likely due to the morale of Russian forces continuing to decline, as their generals have reportedly been serving towards the front lines because of their struggles.
Related
Related
