A Russian general who bragged before the war began that it would be over in hours was killed on the 29th day of combat in Ukraine, highlighting the increasing danger to Russian officers in the conflict.
Lt. Gen. Yakov Rezantsev is reportedly the seventh Russian general to die amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine and the second general officer of his rank.
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It’s not clear why so many Russian generals are dying in combat. Some military analysts speculate that Russia’s conscript army is reluctant to move forward and engage the enemy, prompting some generals to take the initiative and lead their men into combat.
There’s the possibility that troops are more than merely reluctant to go into combat; they may be mutinous. A report that one Russian commander was deliberately run over by a tank highlights the growing unrest among the troops.
At the outset of the war, Rezantsev told his soldiers the invasion would be over within hours, prompting unrest among his subordinates as the war dragged on for weeks, according to a conversation intercepted by the Ukrainian army. This led to increasingly low morale among troops, supposedly forcing senior officers to the front lines, according to the BBC.
Russian forces have lost other military officials over the last week, with at least one commanding officer being run over with a tank driven by his own troops, according to local journalist Roman Tsymbaliuk. Russian Col. Yuri Medvedev had both of his legs injured and was then transported to a hospital in Belarus, where some officials reportedly said he later died, according to the Washington Post.
Are the reports reliable? For some reason — probably sheer ignorance — Russian soldiers continue to talk over unsecured communications. It’s not likely they’re part of a disinformation campaign when one such instance led to the death of another Russian general and his entire staff.
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