Ukrainian Armed Force officially confirms Russia's MG Andrey Kolesnikov, has been killed

[Donkees]

Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦
@IAPonomarenko
·
1h
Ukraine’s authorities say MG Andrey Kolesnikov, Russia’s 29th Combined Arms Army commander has been killed.
This is yet to be confirmed!
Big if true — the elimination of military leaders on the ground gets really catastrophic for Russia.


Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦
@IAPonomarenko
·
1h
The Ukrainian Armed Force officially confirms the general has been eliminated

[SoonerPride]

1. Good

More like this please.

[SheltieLover]

6. +1,000!

[dalton99a]

2. He was on his way to murder civilians

[doc03]

3. There are a lot of Russian Generals getting killed. I don't remember any American

Generals being killed in my lifetime.

[BeerBarrelPolka]

4. Lets

Let's send the Flynn brothers over there!

[2Gingersnaps]

33. To the Russian side? LOL, good idea. They sure aren't on our side.

[ecstatic]

51. Lol! nt

[Lithos]

24. Maj General Harold Greene died in Afghanistan

But, to your point, the difference is very noticeable. I would chalk it up not to the fact that US Generals lead from the rear - they tend to be up in touch with the troops, they are not having to spend their time acting as Captains, Majors and Colonels in driving and coordinating their troops. A huge difference in professionalism and skill between the US and Russian armies that exists at this time.

[COL Mustard]

35. There were a few in Vietnam

The last I remember was Major General Harry Greene, killed in Afghanistan. I knew him and it was quite a loss.

[uponit7771]

5. This didn't happen even in WWII, battle flag officers aren't supposed to be so close to front

... lines that they're exposed but RA flag officers don't have a choice cause they don't have proper communications.

These guys aren't easy to replace and lead whole officer units

[Ray Bruns]

19. Actually, Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr, lieutenant general, was killed on Okinawa.

[getagrip_already]

20. tell that to patton or macarthur......

Or montgomery for that matter. And how many german commanders were kia?

The generals were creatures of the front lines and many were lost in combat. I think we even lost some in vietnam.

It isn't unusual in a historical context. It is unusual in modern warfare where commanders don't need to be on top of soldiers to issue orders or get reports. Of course none of that is working for russia right now.

[Kaleva]

23. The front may be pretty fluid.

The Russians may not have the rear areas totally secured and there could be UKR units operating freely there.

[Sgent]

44. I think the real problem

is lack of Field Officers. Colonels are acting as Majors, Majors as Captains, Brigadiers as Colonels, you get the idea.

I heard on the radio (BBC) that the Allies (not just US) lost 12 in both theaters of war in WWII -- and the Russians have lost 3 in 2+ weeks. I don't know if that included my possibly favorite MoH winner, Brig. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. who died a few days later from a heart attack after "starting the war from here" while directing the landing at Normandy.

[Wingus Dingus]

7. I said before and I'll say it again:

The Ukrainian intel game is super-strong.

[lagomorph777]

12. Really strong.

Freaking amazing.

[Beetwasher.]

17. Because They're In Russia's House

They've got eyes and ears up and down Russia's command chain, obviously.

[Irish_Dem]

43. I agree, a very reasonable assumption.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

28. Big part is Russia's encrypted command system depends on 3G/4G cell phones

Russia knocked out a lot of the cell phone towers, so now the encryption doesn't work and they have to use regular radios.

Russia shot itself in the hand and foot with one shot.

https://inews.co.uk/news/world/russian-troops-era-phone-system-ukraine-destroyed-4g-masts-1504149

[COL Mustard]

37. Don't say too much.

I'm sure they have (wink wink nod nod) super secret squirrel sources that we don't want people to know about.

[nycbos]

8. What number is this now.

[GregariousGroundhog]

13. Three I think

Andrei Sukhovetsky, Vitaly Gerasimov, and now Andrey Kolesnikov.

Note that Russian flag officers go Major General -> Lieutenant General -> Colonel General -> Army General whereas U.S. ones go Brigadier General -> Major General -> Lieutenant General -> General. So a Major General controls a brigade in the Russian Army, whereas they control a division in the United States Army.

The photo in the original post appears to be dated; it shows him wearing a colonel's insignia.

[Jack from Charlotte]

18. A note as to why a Lieutenant General is a higher rank than a Major General......

since a Lieutenant is a lower rank than Major. Originally the rank of Major General was Sergeant Major General and a Sergeant Major is a lower rank that Lieutenant.

Somewhere it got shortened to just Major General. Guessing the origin of American ranks came from The British Army.

[Irish_Dem]

45. This always messed us up as kids when reciting general ranks.

I was an USAF brat and of course we knew the lower officer ranks, those were the ranks of our fathers. In those days base housing posted name and rank in front of your house.

We liked to name the ranks of general and we always argued about the Lt vs Maj Gen ranks. Which one was lower, which one higher.

We knew Major was higher than Lt so it didn't make sense to us and we thought the AF really screwed it up.

But yes as an adult yours is the correct explanation and yes I think it comes from the Brits.

[GB_RN]

36. You Appear To Be Correct Re: Rank Shoulderboards

According to the Wikipedia page on Russia’s Army ranks, what he’s wearing in that photo are the everyday uniform “Colonel” epaulettes.

[Irish_Dem]

46. It took me aback to see three stars on a Colonel's shoulder.

[GB_RN]

48. Yeah. Seeing Stars As Regular Ranks Doesn't Make Sense...

When you're used to them as flag officer rank devices. But, not everyone does things the same way. 🤷‍♂️

[Irish_Dem]

49. Right growing up as a kid in an USAF family, the Navy ranks always blew our minds.

The field officer rank names. And then the shoulder boards.

We couldn't make heads or tails of them.

At least in some of the USN sub movies I like to watch, the officers are wearing rank insignia I recognize, same as USAF. Until they put on their dress whites, and then it is crazy again!

[GB_RN]

52. I Know There Would Be Mutiny, But...

I personally think that all US military rank devices should be standardized across the board. If the navy wants to call a “sergeant” (E-5) a chief “petty officer second class”, fine. But IMO, the rank device should look the same. I have to look it up to tell the difference: CPO 2nd Class has 2 stripes, which looks like a corporal’s device.

Air Force is as bad the other way: 3 stripes is “Senior Airman”, E-4. Why should there be all the confusion and differences?

The justification of “We do it this way because we’ve always done it this way” or “Because it’s tradition” don’t hold water with me. Simplification sometimes makes more sense (and can save a lot of money).

For the record, my grandfather started his service in the US Army Air Corps, so the enlisted rank devices were Army rank devices. He retired with the USAF proper, however.

Again, just my humble opinion and I don’t expect anyone who’s actually in charge will ever take up my idea. Lol

[Irish_Dem]

53. You have company in your mutiny.

I think both military rank and insignia designations should be consistent across the board.

The US Navy, and the British Navy before them have been around a very long time, they won't change their traditions most likely.

I think the Navy should keep their uniforms. Best looking ones in the military service I think.

The AF enlisted insignia is a bit confusing at first. Yes there should be a system which insignia and nomenclature actually match.

My dad was career AF but when he entered it was US Army Air Corp like your father. My aunt has a picture of my Dad when he first joined during WWII and he is wearing an Army uniform. The kids got a kick out of that, which seemed so odd. We were used to AF blues.

[DLevine]

9. Good news. nt

[roamer65]

10. Good riddance.

[lagomorph777]

11. It's beginning to look like more than coincidence.

Ukraine must have some damned good intel.

[speak easy]

14. Numerous reports say the Russians are using cell phones.

[lagomorph777]

15. Oops.

[speak easy]

16. I listened to a BBC forum in Estonia

The NATO rep was trying hard to contain his excitement over the Russian army's utter incompetence.

[Botany]

26. You can be sure that our intel people are feeding information to the Ukrainian fighters.

Russia has lost lots of Colonels and Generals so far.

[getagrip_already]

21. this is going to devolve into a series of guerilla type struggles......

There is ittle command and control obvious. Each unit appears to be autonomous and out of communication with the whole.

That doesn't mean they are harmless. You can still cut down an oak tree with a bunch of steak knives. It just takes longer.

[The Unmitigated Gall]

22. What I've got, so far...

Magomed Tushayev - Bloodstained Chechen psychopath
Vladimir Zhoga - Led neonazi “Sparta” brigade in Donbas
Andrei Sukhovetsky - Russian general?
Vitaliy Gerasimov - Russian general?
Andrey Kolesnikov - Russian general?

[Mr. Evil]

25. I like that.

"Eliminated."

[L. Coyote]

27. Ponomarenko is worth following on Twitter, real time news.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

LOL, "Ukrainian SOF requests immediate tractor support"

Link to tweet

[COL Mustard]

38. "Calling all farmers. Calling all farmers."

Report to sector 5341 with tractors, code red!

[L. Coyote]

40. Do it, make that an OP with that tweet.

[AdamGG]

29. Are Major Generals often on the front lines?

I know Patton was out there directing the traffic of his tank brigades (at least George C. Scott was), but I thought in modern times, the top generals were in a room somewhere reviewing progress on large computer screens.

I wonder how much the CIA has informants embedded with the Russians who may tip off the Ukrainians to where these guys are. It's horrendous that the Russian invasion exists, but it is interesting news to follow.

[L. Coyote]

41. It seems obvious the Russian communications are not secure, they are hacked, intercepted, or

otherwise compromised from within perhaps.

[AdamGG]

42. CIA, baby!

Trump apparently didn't succeed at disabling them.

[L. Coyote]

47. Anonymous

[Chakaconcarne]

30. Wondering if satellites can tell where these generals are?

[IronLionZion]

31. Russia underestimated Ukraine at their own peril

[blue-wave]

32. Oh yeah, make Putin's war

as painful to Pooty and Russia as you can. They started it, the Ukrainians will finish it. Slava Ukraini!!

[COL Mustard]

34. Decapitation of an Army

Is a very effective way to curtail its progress. Kill the generals, colonels and senior NCOs and everyone else will wallow around in confusion given the lack of command continuity.

[Spider Jerusalem]

39. The Russians have some serious opsec issues; they're having to communicate on unencrypted channels

their encrypted phones are all 4G, and they've blown up cell towers, so their encrypted comms don't work.

[denbot]

50. Either the Ukraine's posses world class operations intelligence..

Or their officer corps is riddled with dissent. This is getting curiouser, and curiouser..

[prodigitalson]

54. Or someone is giving them more than javelins and stingers nt

[denbot]

55. Those Generals were taken down with small arms or snipers.

To get in small arms range of a flag officer more than once or twice in an entire campaign is exceptional. To off more than a half dozen flag officers in the space of two weeks with small arms demonstrate deep foundational cracks in the Russian armed forces.

That is far more devastating, and is foretelling a collapse. At that moment of collapse the world will hang in the balance, destiny’s dice in the hands of a soulless madman.