According to Yahoo News and other foreign media reports, a few days ago, the Ukrainian army used long-range missiles to launch a decapitation strike on the headquarters of the 58th Army of the Russian Army in a hotel in Berdyansk, responsible for directing the army to fight, resisting the Ukrainian army's attack in the direction of Zaporozhye Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov (Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov) was killed.
[Screenshot of foreign media related reports]
At present, this news has not been officially confirmed by Russia, but local government officials and some Russian military media have also mentioned the matter. If the situation is true, Lieutenant General Zokov will become the highest-ranking officer killed in Russia since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
And in the case of the continuous offensive of the Ukrainian army in the Zaporozhye direction, the death of the lieutenant general will, on the one hand, affect the Russian command system in this direction, and on the other hand, it will also deal a heavy blow to the morale of the front-line troops. It may even directly lead to a complete change in the situation of the war.
[Lieutenant General Oleg Zzokov]
More importantly, unlike the Russian generals who died in the battlefield before, Zzokov was not attacked by the Ukrainian army when he was on the front line to direct the battle. Rather, inside the command of the army group, far from the front line, it was blown up by the Ukrainian side with the "Storm Shadow" missiles supplied by the British.
Therefore, the death of this senior general actually reflects some new changes in the situation on the battlefield of Russia and Ukraine, as well as some problems that remain unresolved within the Russian army.
First of all, with the arrival of Western long-range missiles such as "Storm Shadow" to Ukraine, the long-range strike capability that the Ukrainian army previously lacked has been greatly improved. The Ukrainian army now has the ability to launch precision strikes on targets in the rear of the Russian army. The bombing of the headquarters of the 58th Army shows that the targets, including the command structure of the Russian army, are no longer safe.
[Storm Shadow missile]
Secondly, the bombing of the headquarters this time and the death of the deputy commander also show that the protection of the rear command by the Russian army is still inadequate.
Specifically, the Ukrainian army found this command post, most likely through two ways, one is to rely on drones or Western reconnaissance satellites, through research vehicle access and other ways, to find the headquarters, the other is to directly send scouts to infiltrate the rear of the Russian army to find the location of the headquarters.
Considering that the headquarters of the 58th Army, a hotel located on the coast of Berdyansk, and a number of hotels around, as well as some other commercial facilities and hospitals, the Ukrainian army is likely to combine the two methods, both referring to the intelligence of aerial reconnaissance, and also sending personnel to determine the location, and even let the ground personnel accurately guide the attack.
[The headquarters of the Russian army under attack is located by the sea]
It can be seen that the Russian army has certain deficiencies in the selection of headquarters positions, related cover, and security work, saying that the Russian army does not know enough about modern warfare and does not realize that it is far from the command post on the front line, which is not absolutely safe, and it is not exaggerated. In other words, after more than 500 days of fighting, the Russian army still does not have a long memory on this issue.
And with the death of Zzokov, the total number of confirmed or suspected generals killed by the Russian army since the beginning of the war has exceeded 20.
Of course, it is not surprising that the Russian army lost so many high-ranking generals in the war. As an army with a tradition of high-ranking officers commanding the frontline, the Russian army and the Soviet army before it have often suffered casualties among senior officers in previous wars and foreign conflicts. Even in the Syrian civil war, which previously had a crushing advantage, the Russian army killed 1 lieutenant general and 2 major generals, and 16 generals died in the two Chechen wars.
[In the Syrian civil war, the advantage of the Russian army is more obvious]
However, this situation of a large number of casualties among high-ranking generals in the war is obviously unfavorable to the long-term construction of the Russian army. After all, a thousand armies are easy to get, and one will be hard to find. A good commander is the key to whether a country's army can win victory in war.
Just imagine, if there were no excellent commanders such as Zhukov and Rokossovsky, how could the Soviet Union in the era of World War II, even if it had sufficient troops and weapons and equipment, block the German army under Moscow and push back to Berlin step by step.
In other words, qualified commanders are those who have gradually emerged in years of training and military operations. But now, a large number of commanders at the Russian army at the division level died in battle before they proved their ability due to the tradition of forward command, communication problems and other reasons, which is very likely to make the future Russian army face the dilemma of lack of "generals".
[Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky of the Russian Aerospace Forces, he is also the first general of the Russian army to confirm that he died in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict]
Take Lieutenant General Zzokov, who was killed in the bombing, for example, this person was born in 1971, graduated from military school in 1994, participated in two Chechen wars, the Crimean crisis and the Syrian civil war, and is regarded as a young general within the Russian army.
At the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, he led the 144th Guards Motor Rifle Division into battle. With his outstanding performance in the war, Zzokov was promoted to commander of the 20th Army last summer, and in February this year, he was officially promoted to deputy commander of the Southern Theater. It can be seen that Zzokov's combat command ability has been tested on the battlefield and is also recognized by the Russian military leadership.
[If he can survive to the end of the war, Zokov will most likely be promoted again]
If this person survives the war, further increases in rank and position, and even eventually enters the Moscow post, it will not be a problem. But now, such a promising commander was killed in his own headquarters, forcing the Russian army to change generals again. Whether the new commander will be able to match Zzokov's abilities is difficult to say.
From these perspectives, as Ukraine receives more Western military aid, the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield will continue to change. If the Russian army cannot make adjustments in time according to changes in the situation, similar incidents will occur. In the long run, the Russian army will not only be demoralized, but also have problems in the command system, which may even lead to the development of the war situation in the most unfavorable direction for the Russian side.