Russia-Ukraine Flash Report for 6-5-22 13:45 PDT - Russian General Killed In Action

There are multiple reports from Russia State Media, including "propagandist" Alexandr Sladkov that Russian Major General Roman Kutuzov was killed in action in the "Luhansk Oblast." The reports indicate that due to bad Operational Security (OPSEC) Kutuzov position was confirmed and targeted with artillery.

It is possible that Kutuzov was commanding the 29th Combined Arms Army (CAA) of the Russian Federation. Kutuzov last known command was chief of staff of the 29th CAA. Units of the 29th CAA include the 36th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, have been operating in the Luhansk Oblast and engaged in fighting in the Severodonetsk salient.

The commanding officer of the 29th CAA at the start of the war was Major General Andrei Kolesnikov. Kolesnikov was killed in action on March 11 due to bad OPSEC, and his location being tracked by a cellphone using a SIM acquired in a Ukrainian store. Kolesnikov's death was confirmed when Russian forces were forced to use an unsecured landline phone to report his death, due to the failure of the Russian ERA secure communications system.

Due to the way command and control are structured in Russia, it is not uncommon for senior officers to go to the front. The lack of a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) corps in the Russian military forces officers to become directly involved with commanding military action. 

Russian Generals will go to the front for several reasons:

1) Failed communication systems - to directly command and give orders because the comm structure has collapsed or failed

2) Failure to follow orders - directly manage the troops and their maneuvers due to a lack of progress, or orders not being followed 

3) Morale issues - either as a boost or to quell unrest and refusal to fight

Because there is confirmation coming from both belligerents and Sladkov's nature of eternal optimism, we believe these reports are valid.