A number of Russian general officers have been killed during the Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present). Russian sources have confirmed 17 deaths. This has been attributed to Russian senior commanders going to the field to address "difficulties in command and control" and "faltering Russian performance on the front line", insecure communication by Russian forces, and military intelligence, both domestic and from their allies, that has enabled Ukrainians to target Russian generals both in the field and in their cars in Moscow.
These losses exceed those of the Second Chechen War, in which Russia lost ten generals.
Analysis
Analysts at the Jerusalem Institute for Security and Strategy and the French Institute of International Relations found that the number of Russian generals killed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine suggests that poor morale among Russian forces and a slow advance into Ukraine forced high-ranking officers to put themselves at risk in an effort to achieve military objectives. UK intelligence attributed the deaths of senior commanders to their going to the field to personally lead operations to address "difficulties in command and control" and "faltering Russian performance on the front line." Western governments say at least ten Russian generals have been killed, which they attribute to major strategic errors. The Japanese government estimates that 20 Russian generals have been killed in the war, based on intelligence gathered by Japan in cooperation with the United States and Europe; retired general Kiyofumi Iwata, former of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, described the tally as "unbelievably high".
In addition to these flag officers, many other senior officers have been killed by Ukrainian forces; on 23 March 2022, Ukrainian official Mykhailo Podoliak stated that their forces had killed "dozens of colonels and other officers".Sean Spoonts, Deep Six: Kremlin Confirms Captain of the Moskva Killed, 450 Crewmembers May Be Dead , SOFREP (April 15, 2022). That day, The Times counted five Russian colonels killed in Ukraine so far. On 11 May, The Independent reported a total of 42 colonels allegedly killed. By the end of April, at least 317 Russian officers had been killed, a third of them majors, lieutenant colonels, and colonels. A Ukrainian official told The Wall Street Journal that a unit of Ukrainian military intelligence was collecting information on the positions of Russian officers, including generals, artillery commanders, and pilots. High-ranking casualties in the Russian Navy include Captain 1st Rank Andrei Paliy, deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet. Anton Kurpin, the commander of the Russian cruiser Moskva, has also been reported as killed, although Russia has not confirmed this.
The Russian military is top-heavy, with generals playing a larger role in day-to-day operations than in other militaries. Russian battalion commanders were given more authority only three years before the invasion. According to analysts and Western officials, Russia had deployed approximately 20 general officers to Ukraine. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, described the number of Russian generals killed as "a shocking number", while General David Petraeus, the former director of the CIA and commander of Coalition troops in Iraq, remarked that it is "very uncommon" for so many generals to be killed and that the Ukrainian military was "picking them off left and right". The Washington Post stated that generals were "killed at a rate not seen since World War II".
The deaths of Russian officers on the front line have been attributed to a number of Russian vulnerabilities in Ukraine, including the use of unsecured communications and the movement of officers to the front line to boost flagging morale and address discipline issues, such as looting. The use of unsecured phones has been attributed to the failure of Russia's secure telephone technology system, Era. In March 2022, two American military officials told The New York Times that Russian generals in Ukraine frequently had conversations on unsecured phones and radios, and that in at least one instance, a general and his staff were killed after the Ukrainians intercepted a call, geolocated it, and attacked the location. The New York Times also reported that U.S. intelligence has provided real-time intelligence to help the Ukrainian military target Russian generals.
The loss of general officers exceeds those of the Second Chechen War, in which Russia lost ten generals.
List Russia has confirmed the death of 16 generals.See table for list and sources in each case Ukraine has claimed the deaths of seven additional generals, two of whom have not been named, which Russia has neither confirmed nor denied.
Image Name Rank Position Date reported Status Notes Andrei Sukhovetsky Major General Deputy Commander, 41st Combined Arms Army Shot by a sniper at Hostomel, Kyiv Oblast, on 28 February 2022. Had previously been involved in the Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war, and the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea. His death was reported by a retired Russian intelligence officer on Twitter on 1 March and by Russian online tabloid Pravda.ru on 3 March 2022. Vladimir Frolov Major General Deputy Commander, 8th Guards Combined Arms Army No information about his death was released prior to the notice of his funeral at Serafimovskoe Cemetery, St. Petersburg. Andrei Simonov Major General Chief of Electronic Warfare Troops, 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army Killed in an artillery strike on a command post of the 2nd Combined Arms Army, in the vicinity of Russian-controlled Izium, Kharkiv Oblast. Kanamat Botashev Major General(retired) Wagner Group (possibly) Killed in Luhansk Oblast when his Su-25 was shot down by a FIM-92 Stinger missile. He had previously been discharged from the Russian Air Force for crashing a Su-27. Ukrainian sources suggested that he might have been deployed as part of the paramilitary organization Wagner Group. Roman Kutuzov Lieutenant General (posthumous) Commander, 1st Army Corps, Donetsk People's Republic People's Militia Reported by Russian state television reporter Alexander Sladkov on the Telegram messaging app. Kutuzov was reportedly killed near the village of Mykolaivka, Popasna Raion, Luhansk Oblast. Kutuzov's promotion from major general was announced posthumously. Sergey Goryachev Major General Chief of Staff, 35th Combined Arms Army Killed in a missile strike in Zaporizhzhia Oblast during the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive. Oleg Tsokov Lieutenant General Deputy Commander, Southern Military District Killed by a missile strike on the headquarters of the 58th Combined Arms Army in Russian-controlled Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Vladimir Zavadsky Major General Deputy Commander, 14th Army Corps Killed by a Russian mine away from the frontlines, possibly in Kherson Oblast. Alexander Tatarenko Lieutenant General Commander of Belbek air base Killed during a SCALP/Storm Shadow strike on Belbek air base in Crimea, in the context of a larger Ukrainian missile and drone attack on 30–31 January 2024 that killed another ten servicemen. The Kyiv Post cites reports in Russian media for the claim. Pavel Klimenko Major General Commander, 5th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade Killed in Ukraine on 6 November 2024, at the age of 47, by a Kamikaze drone. He was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation posthumously. Igor Kirillov Lieutenant General Chief of the Russian NBC Protection Troops Killed by an explosive device in Moscow. Konstantin Smeshko Major General Deputy Commander of Russian Engineer Troops Killed in an unknown location allegedly due to a HIMARS strike in one of multiple attacks carried out on this day. His funeral ceremony was held in Moscow in the last days of December 2024. Yaroslav Moskalik Lieutenant General Deputy Chief, Main Operations Directorate, General Staff Killed by a car bomb in Balashikha, Moscow Oblast. Ildar Akhmerov Vice-Admiral Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander of the Black Sea Fleet Circumstances unknown; death reported by Ukrainian and Russian sources. Mikhail Gudkov Major General Commander of the 155 Guards Naval Infantry Brigade and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Killed in a Ukrainian strike on Korenevo, Kursk Oblast. Fanil Sarvarov Lieutenant General Head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff Killed by a car bomb on Yasenevaya Street in Moscow. Aleksandr Otroshchenko Lieutenant General Commander, Mixed Aviation Corps of the Northern Fleet Killed in the crash of an An-26 military transport in Crimea. Dmitry Mikhailov Major General Commander, 144th Motorized Rifle Division Reported killed in an FPV drone attack near Terny. Valery Plokhotnyuk Major General Unclear, formerly Chief of Staff, 49th Combined Arms Army Killed at the bombing of Colonel-General Aleksandr Chayko's 55th birthday party in Moscow, arriving to the party in a vehicle with flashing emergency lights. Plokhotnyuk was buried in the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery on 5 August. Sergey Milchakov Lieutenant General Commander, 51st Combined Arms Army Reported killed in a series of strikes on the primary and reserve command posts of Russian forces in Donetsk. Anton Grunis Major General Commander, 4th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade Reported killed in a drone strike in Donetsk Oblast.
Rebutted reports The reported deaths of nine Russian generals, and one admiral, have been rebutted or retracted.