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Vladimir Putin’s army has suffered “devastating losses” among its middle and junior officers in its war in Ukraine, British defense chiefs said on Monday.
They added that the scale of the deaths is likely to damage control and command of the Russian military over Putin’s invasion, which is now in its fourth month.
The UK’s defense chiefs believe that the lack of “experienced and reliable platoon and company commanders” is likely to hit the morale and discipline of the Russian president’s forces.
His battalion tactical groups are also likely to be less effective, they added, as they have been rebuilt by many units after earlier defeats and may lack leadership.
The United Kingdom and other Western nations have been embroiled in a critical information war against Russia, highlighting the weaknesses and failures of Mr Putin’s military campaign in Ukraine – more often than not, but limited to a large number of troops and equipment. which he has deployed.
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In its latest intelligence briefing, the Ministry of Defense in London said: “Russia has probably suffered devastating losses among its middle and junior officers in the conflict. “Brigade and battalion commanders are probably moving forward in danger because they are being held at an uncompromising level of responsibility for the performance of their units.
“In the same way, junior officers had to lead tactical actions at the lowest level, as the army lacks highly trained and empowered non-commissioned officers (NCOs) who perform this role in Western forces.
It added: “The loss of much of the younger generation of professional officers is likely to exacerbate his current problems in modernizing his approach to command and control.
“More immediately, battalion tactical groups (BTGs), which are being rebuilt in Ukraine from survivors of many units, are likely to be less effective due to the lack of junior leaders.
“With the many credible reports of localized riots among Russian forces in Ukraine, the lack of experienced and reliable platoon and company commanders is likely to lead to a further decline in morale and continued poor discipline.
The British Minister of the Armed Forces James Happy said that more than 20,000 Russian servicemen had been killed in Ukraine as a huge number of soldiers had been thrown into precarious action.
Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are also believed to have been killed, as well as tens of thousands of civilians, some of whom have been killed in war crimes.
Putin’s forces are reportedly succeeding in Luhansk province in the eastern Donbass region, where he has reoriented his military campaign following the failure of his initial plan for a lightning invasion, which included capturing Kyiv within days.
However, the latest reports from the last 24 hours show that Ukrainian soldiers are holding positions and repelling Russian troops in at least one area around a key main road.
Russian and Ukrainian troops fought fierce battles in close combat Sunday in Luhansk province as Moscow troops, backed by intense shelling, tried to gain a strategic foothold to take over the region.
Putin’s forces are reportedly gaining ground as they seek to storm Severodonetsk after unsuccessfully trying to encircle the strategic city.
Their attempt to seize a key road in the area, which if it did mean it would be completely surrounded, was reportedly repulsed by Ukrainian troops.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the situation in Severodonetsk as “indescribably difficult” with ruthless Russian artillery shelling that destroyed critical infrastructure and damaged 90 percent of buildings.
“The capture of Severodonetsk is a major task for the occupying forces,” Zelensky said in a speech late last night, adding that the Russians were not interested in casualties, reporting heavy losses.
The mayor said the fighting had cut off power and mobile phones and forced a humanitarian aid center to be closed due to the dangers.
Deteriorating conditions have raised fears that Severodonetsk could become the next Mariupol, a city on the Sea of Azov that spent nearly three months under Russian siege before the last Ukrainian fighters surrendered.
The Ukrainian leader also paid a rare visit to the front line in Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city, to assess the strength of the national defense.
Severodonetsk, 89 miles south of Russia’s border, has emerged in recent days as the epicenter of Moscow’s bid to take over Ukraine’s entire eastern Donbass region. Russia has also stepped up efforts to capture the nearby town of Lisichansk, where civilians have rushed to escape the persistent shelling.
The two eastern cities cover the strategically important Siversky Donetsk River. They are the last major Ukrainian-controlled areas in the Luhansk province, which makes up the Donbass along with the neighboring Donetsk region.
Zelensky, meanwhile, visited troops in Kharkov, where Ukrainian fighters pushed Russian forces out of close positions a few weeks ago, but it has since been reported that the advance has stalled.
“I am very proud of our defenders. “Every day, risking their lives, they fight for the freedom of Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote in the Telegram news app after the visit.
Russia continued to bomb the northeastern city from afar, and explosions could be heard soon after the president’s visit.
The shelling and airstrikes have destroyed more than 2,000 apartment buildings in the city since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, according to regional governor Oleh Sinegubov.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told French television station TF1 on Sunday that “Moscow’s unconditional priority is the liberation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” adding that Russia sees them as “independent states.”
He also suggested that other regions of Ukraine be able to establish close ties with Russia.
In Luhansk, constant Russian shelling created what provincial governor Sergei Haidai called a “difficult situation.”
“There are dead and wounded,” he wrote in the Telegram. On Saturday, he said, one civilian was killed and four were injured when a Russian shell hit a high-rise apartment building.
But some delivery and evacuation routes to Luhansk were operational on Sunday, he said. He claims that the Russians withdrew “at a loss” around a village near Severodonetsk, but launched air strikes on another nearby river village.
Civilians who reached the eastern city of Pokrovsk, 80 miles south of Lisichansk, said they held out as long as they could before fleeing the Russian offensive.
Yana Skakova choked on tears, describing how she leaves with her 18-month-old and 4-year-old sons, while her husband is left to take care of their house and animals. The family was among 18 people who had lived in a basement for the past 2 1/2 months, while police told them on Friday it was time to evacuate.
“None of us wanted to leave our hometown,” she said. “But in the name of these little children, we decided to leave.”
Oksana, 74, who was afraid to say her last name, was evacuated from Lisichansk by a team of foreign volunteers along with her 86-year-old husband.
“I’m going somewhere without knowing where,” she cried. “I am now a beggar without happiness. Now I have to ask for charity. You’d better kill me. “
Severodonetsk Mayor Alexander Struck said there was a fight at the city’s bus station on Saturday. Residents of the city, which had a pre-war population of about 100,000, risked being shelled just to get water from half a dozen wells and no electricity or cell phone. Struck estimates that 1,500 civilians in the city have died since the start of the war from Russian attacks, as well as a lack of medicine or treatment.
The Washington-based Institute for War Studies, a Washington-based think tank, has questioned the Kremlin’s strategy of amassing huge military efforts to seize Severodonetsk, saying it is costly for Russia and will bring little return.
“When the battle of Severodonetsk is over, no matter which country it holds, Russia’s operational and strategic offensive is likely to have culminated, giving Ukraine a chance to resume its counter-offensive at the operational level to push Russian forces back,” the institute said. . said late Saturday.
In Mariupol on Sunday, an aide to the Ukrainian mayor claimed that after Russian forces gained full control of the city, they had piled up the bodies of dead people in a supermarket. Assistant Petro Andryushchenko posted a photo in the Telegram news app of what he described as a “corpse dump” in the occupied city. It showed corpses lined up next to closed supermarket counters.
“Here the Russians bring the bodies of the dead, which were washed from their graves in an attempt to restore water supply and partially exhumed. They just throw them in the trash, ”he wrote.
It was not possible to verify his claim immediately.
Regions in Ukraine were hit overnight by renewed Russian air strikes. On the ground in the eastern Donetsk region fighters fought back and forth to control villages and towns.
The Ukrainian army has reported heavy fighting around Donetsk, the provincial capital, and the estuary in the north, a small town that serves as a key railway hub in the Donetsk region. Moscow said on Saturday that it had captured Lyman, but Ukrainian authorities said their fighters continued to fight in parts of the city.
“The enemy is reinforcing its units,” said the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “He’s trying to fortify himself in the area.”
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