Ukrainian Defenders Announce They've Pulled Off Hat Trick with Decapitation of Russian Forces

By Abby Liebing March 11, 2022 at 4:17pm

As the war continues between Ukraine and Russia, the Ukrainians have not backed down and have not been easily taken by Russian forces.

Successfully pulling off a wartime hat trick, the Ukrainian forces have killed three Russian generals, CNN reported.

In a tweet on March 11, Ukraine’s Armed Forces announced that they had “managed to eliminate Major General Andriy Kolesnikov, the commander of the Eastern Military District.’

Російські окупанти продовжують втрачати у війні проти України своїх офіцерів. ЗСУ вдалося ліквідувати генерал-майора Андрія Колеснікова, командувача Східного військового округу. pic.twitter.com/CEBDneqslz

— ??Armed Forces (@ArmedForcesUkr) March 11, 2022

Kolesnikov was the third general eliminated.

On March 8, Ukrainian forces announced that they had taken out two other top Russian generals, Insider reported.

Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, the first deputy commander of Russia’s 41st army, was killed in Kharkiv. The Ukrainian defense ministry announced his death in a statement.

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Another Major General, Andrei Sukhovetsky, deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District, was also killed, the Daily Mail reported.

Reports seem to indicate that there are 20 Russian generals leading the invasion in Ukraine. So far, there have been 173 tanks, 12 aircraft and 345 troop carriers lost.

Meanwhile, the loss of prominent generals seems to indicate that the Russian front is running into difficulties and there may be a heavy toll on the front line troops, Insider reported.

These generals that were killed were also seasoned military leaders for Russia.

Kolesnikov took part of the second Chechen war and was also involved in Russian military operations in Syria and the annexation of Crimea, the Daily Mail reported.

Gerasimov was from a military family, being the son of Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of General Staff of Russia’s armed forces.

Sukhovetsky, meanwhile, was on a special mission. Reports seem to indicate that he was close to the action as he was shot by a sniper near Mariupol.

These losses to the Russian army are significant. Though three sounds like a small number, having generals killed indicates a weakness of the forces.

It is not terribly common in warfare for this many prominent generals to be killed so quickly. The war has been going on less than 3 weeks and already three top Russian army leaders are dead.

In contrast, the U.S. was in Afghanistan for 20 years but lost only one general, Insider reported.

Russia itself only lost three general staff officers during the whole Syrian conflict in which they were significantly involved, CNN reported.

That three prominent figures have already been killed in Ukraine indicates two things: First, the Ukrainians seem to be fighting hard and smart if they are taking out generals. Second, perhaps Russia did not plan this attack very well.

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