Another Russian oligarch?! No, this time it's another Russian general, along with a key command center:
Ukrainian officials said an attack on a key Russian command center in the eastern city of Izyum on Saturday evening killed about 200 Russian troops, including Maj. Gen. Andrei Simonov, but just missed hitting the chief of the general staff of the Russian military, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, who had just concluded a secret visit to the army and airborne command center. Earlier, unconfirmed reports suggested Gerasimov was wounded in the strike.
Two U.S. officials tell The New York Times that Gerasimov had been in eastern Ukraine for the past couple of days, a rare step for Russia's top uniformed officer, but could not provide any information on the attack on School No. 12, Russia's Izyum command center. A senior Ukrainian official told the Times his country had learned of Gerasimov's visit to the front lines, but that the general was already returning to Russia when the rockets struck School No. 12. [snip]
If the death of Maj. Gen. Simonov is accurate, he would be at least the 10th Russian general killed during Russia's Ukraine war. It's likely that more than a quarter of the 120 battalion tactical groups Russia committed to its invasion "have now been rendered combat ineffective," Britain's Ministry of Defense said early Monday. "Some of Russia's most elite units, including the VDV Airborne Forces, have suffered the highest levels of attrition. It will probably take years for Russia to reconstitute these forces."
In the Izyum strike, preliminary information indicates "there are senior officers among the dead," Oleksiy Arestovych, a military adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, tells The Washington Post. "Their combat readiness has been significantly damaged for the Izyum direction. I can't say that it's been fully destroyed yet."
In 67 days of Putin's war on Ukraine, Russia has lost approximately 65 percent of its entire ground combat strength. The high morale, bravery, tenacity and tactical competence of Ukrainian forces -- utilizing highly effective Western as well as Soviet- era armaments -- has made the difference so far. We're likely a long way away from the end of this genocidal war, and there will be reversals as well as victories to come. But as Speaker Pelosi said to President Zelenskyy in Kiev this past weekend:
“Your fight is a fight for everyone, and so our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done.”
