Russia lost another colonel in Ukraine, as Vladimir Putin’s high command continues to deteriorate severe casualties from his botched invasion.
Lieutenant-colonel Zaur Dimayev, deputy commander of the 4th battalion of the Akhmat Kadyrov special forces unit, was killed by an artillery barrage in the Donbas region on Tuesday, according to Telegram channel Baza.
According to the site – which is known to have ties to Russian intelligence – Dimayev was riding in a military SUV through the village of Kamyshevakha in Luhansk province when it was hit by a Ukrainian shell.
It takes the overall number of Russian colonels killed in combat to at least 49, though neither Kyiv nor Moscow has released an official figure.
The commander, a buddy of notorious Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, was alleged to have died instantly along with his driver.
Two Chechen police officers were also reported slain, with four others injured. Their circumstances are unclear.
Chechen special forces, informally known as Kadyrovites after their leader, have been progressively drawn into conflict in Ukraine after Russia’s military was mauled in its attempt to take Kiev.
According to videos, they were significantly involved in fighting in Mariupol, as well as trench warfare in Donbas, alongside the armed forces of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.
High-ranking commanders have also been drawn into the conflict, which is said to be due to inadequate organization forcing them to the front to oversee the fighting.
Last Monday, Russia acknowledged the death of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Dosyagayev, 34, regarded as one of the country’s elite paratroopers.
Dosyagayev was the commander of an airborne assault battalion of Russia’s most elite parachute regiment, the 104th.
Troops from the 104th were reportedly at Bucha, the site of alleged rape and torture atrocities committed earlier in the war by Putin’s forces.
Col Vladimir Ivanov, 41, of the Defense Ministry’s Information and Mass Communication Department, was also confirmed dead.
Ivanov was killed in March, but his death was only recently revealed, which is regarded to be a deliberate strategy by Russia to conceal the full cost of their war.
Though the precise number of Russian personnel killed in the conflict is unknown – possibly even to Putin’s commanders – Western intelligence estimates that more than 15,000 have died. According to Kyiv, the figure is much higher, at more than 30,000.
According to US sources, roughly 20% of Russia’s combat personnel in Ukraine, which were estimated at 150,000 before the war began, are now out of service. That equates to 30,000 people killed or injured in combat.
America also estimates that Russia has lost over 1,000 tanks and is struggling to replace them as a result of sanctions, which could explain why 50-year-old vehicles were recently seen heading to the front after being brought out of long-term storage.
Russia is currently engaged in a deadly battle for control of the Donbas region, with both sides expected to suffer huge losses on a frontline dubbed “hell.”
Fighting is currently centered on Severodonetsk, one of the final Ukrainian strongholds in Luhansk province, which appears to be on the approach of surrendering to Russian forces.
To claim sovereignty of Luhansk, Putin’s soldiers will just need to conquer the city of Lysychansk, which is only a few hundred yards distant across an industrial zone.
The cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, around 35 miles west of Lysychansk, will thereafter be the main impediments to taking the whole Donbas.
Ukraine has attempted to downplay recent Russian gains, claiming that they give Putin with propaganda but provide little operational advantage.
Kyiv’s generals still believe they can win the war if Western friends continue to supply weapons for their troops to beat back Russian forces.
To that end, Joe Biden stated on Tuesday that the United States will send modern rocket artillery to the front lines as part of a fresh $700 million cargo.
Though he did not name the system, it is expected that he will send M270 MLRS, a Soviet-era artillery weapon developed expressly to oppose Russia.
He made the statement in a New York Times op-ed in which he outlined America’s ultimate goal in Ukraine: to weaken Russia to the point where Ukraine can negotiate a satisfactory peace accord.
‘We want to see a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression,’ he said.