Vladimir Putin has lost even more colonels than previously revealed as his military operation suffers new setbacks.
Lt-Col Dmitry Dormidontov, commander of a rocket artillery division, died more than a week ago but his funeral was held on Wednesday, according to Russian sources.
“Commander of the rocket artillery division, Lt-Col Dmitry Pavlovich Dormidontov, died while on duty,” said a local community report from the Tatarstan region of Russia.
“An enemy mine hit exactly in his dugout, where there were three officers: a division commander, a battalion commander and an aircraft controller,” said the report.
Another loss was Lt-Col Igor Zharov who was buried in Kirzhach town, Vladimir region.
“He died during a military operation to demilitarise and deNazify Ukraine,” said an obituary which revealed he had been honoured by Putin.
Local MP Igor Igoshin said: “Igor Zharov was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.
“Since childhood, he had wanted to become a military man. He studied at the famous Kirzhach School of the Army.”
The latest names of fallen colonels follow news that “fearless” Colonel Denis Kurilo was “liquidated” by the Ukrainians, reportedly dying alongside a staggering 1,500-plus soldiers in his brigade.
All were from the 200th Motorised Rifle Brigade based in Pechenga, above the Arctic Circle.
The figure is from respected Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsymbalyuk, a former Moscow correspondent, who disclosed Col. Kurilo’s death.
Col. Kurilo is believed to have led Russia’s bloody assault on Kharkiv.
The 200th rifle brigade were reported in Ukraine as being the first to storm Kharkiv.
“In the battles near Kharkiv, the commander of the 200th separate motorised rifle brigade (military unit 08275, Pechenga), Colonel Denis Kurilo, died,” he posted.
“It was the 200th brigade that suffered the greatest losses during the implementation of the [Russian] ‘special military operation’.
“According to reports, two battalion tactical groups of the 200th rifle brigade were destroyed in Ukraine.
“The loss of personnel of the brigade exceeds 1,500 servicemen.”
They were moved some 1,800 miles south ostensibly for military drills but in reality to fight in the debilitating war.
Western estimates put the Russian war dead at between 7,000 and 15,000, with some experts suggesting the figure is likely higher.
Russia has acknowledged 1,351 deaths, widely seen as a wild underestimate of true losses.
On Mr Tsymbalyuk’s figures, a higher number were killed in one brigade alone.
Earlier, on Friday, Oleksiy Arestvych, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said: “The battalion tactical group of the 200th of a separate motorised rifle brigade, which took part in the ‘special military operation’ on the territory of Ukraine, suffered significant losses in manpower.
“Of the 648 servicemen who were sent, 645 died. Only three remained, and then two of them were wounded.”
