Putin's Ranks Hit As He Loses 'Best Paratroop Commander' In Ukraine

Ukraine's armed forces have confirmed the death of one of Vladimir Putin's best paratroop commanders amid the ongoing war in the country.

Ukraine's Department for Strategic Communications announced the death of 34-year-old Lt-Col Alexander Dosyagayev in a post on Facebook on Saturday, 28 May, as fighting in Ukraine enters its fourth month.

The 34-year-old was a commander of an airborne assault battalion of the 104th paratrooper regiment; a battalion that had been recognised as the best in Russia for its combat training and military discipline.

Alamy

In its statement on Facebook, Ukraine's armed forces said: "Alexander won the nomination 'Winged Infantry' at the festival 'Russian Army 2021,' but this did not help him at a meeting with Ukrainian warriors."

News of Dosyagayev's death comes after General David Petraeus, former CIA director and former commander of the United States Central Command, said earlier this month that at least 10 Russian generals had already been killed in Ukraine, according to Ukrinform.

Petraeus previously told CNN Russian generals have been taken out by Ukrainian snipers, saying in March: "The bottom line is that their command and control has broken down, their communications have been jammed by the Ukrainians, their secure coms didn't work, they had to go to single channel.

"So what happens is the column gets stopped, an impatient general is sitting back there in his armored – or whatever – vehicle, he goes forward to find out what's going on because there's no initiative [among junior officers], he gets up there, and the Ukrainians have very, very good snipers, and they've just been picking them off, left and right," he continued.

Ukraine Armed Forces

Dosyagayev is thought to be the 48th colonel to have died fighting for Russian forces in Ukraine following reports of the death of Col Vladimir Ivanov, whose death has not been confirmed by the armed forces but who is said to have died in March.

Though Russia is keeping its death toll secret, the British defence ministry has claimed the losses prevented Russian president Putin from declaring a success in the war at the Victory Day parade earlier this month.

"Russia's underestimation of Ukrainian resistance and its 'best case scenario' planning have led to demonstrable operational failings, preventing President Putin from announcing significant military success in Ukraine at the 09 May Victory Day parade.

Russia's invasion plan is highly likely to have been based on the mistaken assumption that it would encounter limited resistance and would be able to encircle and bypass population centres rapidly," the ministry said.

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