The Russian army is apparently losing tanks in droves near Wuhledar in the Donbass.
Now Moscow is said to be replacing the commander in charge.
Update from Thursday, April 6, 11:15 a.m .:
The demotion of the Russian Donbass commander Rustam Muradov seems to be confirmed.
After several corresponding speculations, the British secret service is now also reporting on the dismissal.
The reports on Colonel General Rustam Muradov's replacement, which were also spread on social media, are "most likely" correct, it said on Thursday from London.
"It is the highest-ranking Russian military dismissal in 2023 to date, but more are likely as Russia continues to fail on its Donbass targets," it said.
Moscow initially did not comment.
Rustam Muradov: Russia general is said to be demoted after Wuhledar debacle
First report from April 3rd:
Wuhledar - The military defeats of Russia in the Donbass apparently cost a top commander his post in the Ukraine war.
Because: As the independent Russian news portal
The Moscow Times
reports, citing sources in the Defense Ministry, General Rustam Muradov has been relieved of his duties.
The report cannot be checked independently, and there is no confirmation from Moscow.
Muradov is said to have gained experience in Syria and the South Caucasus before fighting in Ukraine.
In the Donbass, however, units of the Russian army under his command near Wuhledar are said to have experienced a real tank debacle.
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The Ukrainian Wuhledar: Countless tank wrecks are on fields.
© dpa
Specifically, as
The Moscow Times
writes, at the height of the failed Wuhledar offensive in February, troops under his command lost “103 pieces of military equipment, including 36 tanks, within three days.”
The news portal refers to the Dutch think tank "Oryx", which uses open source data to understand Russia's material losses during the illegal invasion of the western neighboring country.
Ukraine war: Russian army probably experienced fiasco at Wuhledar in Donbass
At the same time, 20 pieces of Ukrainian military equipment, including two tanks, were destroyed, the report said.
The Ukrainian General Staff even claimed to have destroyed 130 Russian tanks on a plain next to the coal-mining town.
Which could never be verified.
Drone footage showed at least a number of apparently abandoned and/or destroyed tanks with the inscription “Z”, which the Russian army has used to identify its own tanks and other military vehicles since its invasion of Ukraine.
Several media and military experts have attested to the fact that the Russian command made negligent mistakes during its offensive near the city of Donetsk.
So the tanks were apparently sent into the open field despite the threat of artillery fire.
It has also been known for a long time that the Ukrainian troops defend their positions very effectively with shoulder-launched Western anti-tank weapons of the "Javelin" type.
Wuhledar in Donbass: Ukrainian defenders stopped Russian attackers
"The armored column is most vulnerable when the first shots are fired, the panicked drivers try to turn around -- and then hit the roadside mines," Ukrainian commander of Wuhledar, Vladislav Bajak, told the New York Times at
the
time
like barriers that slow down or stop a column.
Then our artillery starts firing, blowing up more vehicles and killing fleeing soldiers.”
According to their own statements, the Ukrainians laid mines between the respective positions at night so that the Russian tanks would fall into the trap again.
However, this cannot be verified independently either.
Apparently, the Russian main battle tanks became an easy target.
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Defense Minister and General: Sergei Shoigu (left) and Rustam Muradov.
(archive photo)
© IMAGO/Vadim Savitskii
The Moscow Times,
meanwhile, cites an unnamed source in Russia's Eastern Military District and a source in the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces in its report on Muradov's alleged resignation.
Russian army in the Ukraine war: "They achieved nothing in Wuhledar"
“Oryx” military analyst Michael Kofman told the same portal: “Muradov repeatedly had the Russian military attack in small mechanized formations through minefields and across open terrain.
You didn't achieve anything in Wuhledar.” This apparently prompted Moscow to demote the next commander, after there had been a lot of criticism of commanders before.
The Ukrainian armed forces have been holding the front in the direction of the river Dnieper and the city of Dnipro near Wuhledar for months.
(pm)
List of rubrics: © dpa