The Ukrainians have launched a strategy of command decapitation of Russian field officers in Kursk and yesterday in Donetsk. The first in came on November 20, 2024 when Ukraine unleashed Storm Shadow missiles on a joint Russian and North Korean field command which claimed generals, senior commanders and staff of Russia and N Korea. The Ukrainians then did a “double tap” at Ivanovskoye on January 2, 2025. Having taken off the top layer of Russian and N Korean C&C in Kursk, Ukraine is now decimating “mid-level” management at the brigade level. The genius in this strategy is that the Russian and N Korean armies are rigidly structured with lower levels not making the smallest decision unless it is signed off by senior leaders.Why do some Russian top brass seemingly favor such ostentatious and obvious buildings as their field headquarters? Easy targets for the opposing side to scope out. Big time generals gotta live large? No more portable and uncomfortable fold up camp beds or crummy underground bunkers for command and control(C&C) HQ? Gone indeed are the days when a stalwart general like George “Pap” Thomas, commander of the Union XIV Army Corps at Chickamauga and commander of the Army of the Cumberland at Chattanooga who on the march would sleep on the bare ground like the rest of his troopers. And they loved him for it. And they fought like hell for him. He never lost a battle in which he commanded in the field. Not once in a four year war that saw him and his command take on some of the most arduous tasks, including the aforementioned two crucial engagements. A soldier’s soldier. But not much is heard about him because he had no use for “army politics”.
But not all Russian generals are given to such obvious ostentation at the expense of the welfare of their troops. Putin in his vainglorious war has drummed out of his army the generals who were beloved by their troops and who spoke up on behalf of the welfare of their troops. Then 48 year old Major General Ivan Popov who his men affectionately called “Spartacus” was fired from his command for being one of the earliest to speak out about his troops being mindlessly sent on “meat assaults” without enough artillery preparation, armored support and being ill-supplied. He’s now jailed on the evergreen Russian charge of “corruption”. Ironically Popov gained command when his own boss, Lt Gen Oleg Tsokov, became the highest ranking officer killed by Ukraine in a Storm Shadow decapitation strike in July 2023 at Berdyansk.
Ditto then 49 year old Major General Vladimir Seliverstov, who lost his command when he complained about similar misuse of his VDV troopers at Bakhmut. The proud owner of the much coveted “Hero of Russia” medal and highly regarded paratrooper committed the unforgivable “offense” of appealing to the Russian military high command for better conditions for his men. He along with Popov and about six other like-minded effective young commanders have been purged from the Russian army by Putin and his minions.
Enter older “company man” commanders like Yunus-bek Yevkurov, recently placed in charge of the overall Russian counterattack in Kursk. It is not going well. The Ukrainians have seemingly launched a strategy of command and control decapitation of Russian field command not only in Kursk but as recently as yesterday in Donetsk also. The first major indication of this strategy in Kursk came on November 20, 2024 when Ukraine unleashed what is believed to be British-made Storm Shadow missiles on a joint Russian and North Korean field commanders meeting at the sanitorium in Maryino, Kursk. It was a devastating attack which claimed not only generals but senior commanders and staff of both Russia and N Korea.
Ukrainian Armed Forces confirm attack on command post in Kursk region
The Ukrainians then did a follow-up “double tap” at Ivanovskoye near Maryino on January 2, 2025. Having taken off the top most layer of Russian and N Korean C&C in Kursk, the Ukrainians are also stepping down to the unit command level aimed at decimating the “mid-level” and “low level” management tiers in the field...brigade level and even lower:
Ukraine hits Russian naval infantry brigade command post in Kursk Oblast, military claims
There have been other such attacks all aimed at disrupting not only logistics but to also mess up the actual ability of the Russians and N Koreans to properly coordinate, prepare and direct their troops for action. The genius in this strategy by Ukraine is based on the knowledge that both the Russian and N Korean armies are very rigidly structured with lower levels not making even the smallest decision unless it is signed off by the next level and the next level ad nauseam … thus limiting preparation, timeliness and initiative. This is beginning to show in recent events in Kursk.
The most recent multi-pronged Ukrainian push reportedly caught the Russians by surprise and the ensuing confusion in command has allowed Ukraine to not only extend their salient to better fortify it but in the process have created what for lack of a better expression could be seen as a “Kursk Turkey Shoot”. Yesterday came news of a 50 vehicle joint Russian-N Korean assault force headed to Ukrainian held Malaya Loknya being smashed to smithereens with heavy casualties:
Frontline report: Ukrainian troops crush Russian-North Korean assault on prison fortress at Malaya Loknya in Kursk Oblast
The Russians have gone down the very same attack route several times … with the same results. Nobody on their staff knows this? And the same is also happening in Pogrebki on the northern edge of the Ukrainian salient:
Forbes: Russians pray in Kursk as 33-ton Ukrainian Bradley meets them in church battle
‘Fear Not,’ A Russian Prayed As A Ukrainian Bradley Fighting Vehicle Shot Up Russian Infantry At The Church Of Saint Michael In Pogrebki
There’s plenty to fear as the battle for one tiny village escalates.
And it is even worse when Russia tried to attack the southern edge of the Ukrainian salient at Makhnovka:
Russia May Have Lost 400 Troops In One Battle
The village of Makhnovka is a killing field.
Unable to coordinate properly with the N Koreans, and likely pushed hard to “do some thing” a deadly comedy of errors is also hampering Russian efforts in Kursk … with repeated incidence of N Korean fire on Russians causing casualties:
Putin army disaster as North Koreans ambush Russian special forces in friendly fire fiasco
And today the Russians returned the favor … intended or unintended:
Russian troops accidentally destroy North Korean air defense, exposing secret military deliveries to Russia
Taken altogether things are not going well for Russia’s efforts to quickly evict Ukraine from their own Kursk oblast. If Yevkurov was supposed to be the man to push out Ukraine, it ain’t working. By steady decapitating the Russian command and control structure in Kursk, Ukraine has managed to render the Russians and N Koreans without effective field leadership. And boy is it paying dividends for the Ukrainians. The Ukrainians look to be set to be in Kursk, Russia for a while.
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