A Russian military commander was reportedly run over with a tank by one of the soldiers under his own command in protest of steep losses that their brigade has suffered amid fighting in Ukraine. As summarized by former Ukrainian journalist and veteran of the Ukrainian army Victor Kovalenko, “In retaliation for death [or injury] of 50% out of 1,500 servicemen of his 37th Russian infantry brigade at #Makariv near #Kyiv, a Russian tankist with his tank ran over his brigade commander Col. Yuri Medvedev. He survived but his legs were broken. Source: #Ukraine journo R. Tsimbaliuk.” The journalist Kovalenko referenced is Roman Tsymbaliuk. Medvedev was apparently moved to a hospital in Belarus, whose authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, allied himself with Putin amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
⚡️ Mariupol City Council: Around 300 people killed in Russian attack on Mariupol Drama Theater.
Russia bombed the theater, which was known to house hundreds of women and children, on March 16.
The City Council says that witnesses report a huge number of casualties.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 25, 2022
As explained by The Daily Mail regarding this story, “There was no independent corroboration of the claim, but a video released by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov – a close ally of Vladimir Putin – allegedly showed Medvedev being transported by medical troops to Belarus for hospital treatment.”
Russian bombardment of #Mariupol drama theater on March 16 killed around 300 people, witnesses say – Mariupol City Council
— Anastasiia Lapatina (@lapatina_) March 25, 2022
Russia has apparently sustained steep losses in both personnel and equipment during fighting in Ukraine. As previously reported on this site, Russia has lost multiple generals in the war, including one that was apparently wiped out after Ukrainians intercepted communications revealing his position. As recapped by The New York Times, “Two American military officials said that many Russian generals are talking on unsecured phones and radios. In at least one instance, they said, the Ukrainians intercepted a general’s call, geolocated it, and attacked his location, killing him and his staff.” Other high-profile losses for Russian invaders include at least 15 military commanders and a warship called the Orsk that was recently taken out by Ukrainian defenders near Berdyansk. The U.S. Defense Department recently concluded Russia’s invading forces had for the first time fallen beneath 90 percent of their original “combat power.” Thousands of individual Russian troops have apparently died in Ukraine, although the Putin regime has only acknowledged the deaths of a little over 1,300 Russian soldiers in the war.
A friend whose mother is stuck in Mariupol reached out to me, very worried that her mom may be deported to Russia against her own will. Mom has been living in a bomb shelter for weeks, there are heavy battles in the city. Her house is destroyed and Chechen fighters are outside
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) March 25, 2022
And according to The New York Times, a Defense Department official said Friday that Russians were no longer in complete control of the Ukrainian city of Kherson, which Putin’s invading forces captured earlier in the conflict — although Ukrainian sources apparently didn’t agree with the U.S. official’s assessment. In Kherson, critical supplies including food and medical items had recently “almost run out,” according to Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko, who added that circumstances were developing into a “humanitarian catastrophe owing to the Russian army’s blockade.” In Kherson, anti-occupation demonstrators were recently fired upon by Russian forces. There have also been deaths from both starvation and lack of necessary medicines reported in Mariupol, a city that’s been besieged by Russian invaders for some time. The news just recently emerged that some 300 people were believed to have died in a recent Russian strike on a Mariupol theater that was used as a shelter.
In retaliation for death of 50% out of 1,500 servicemen of his 37th Russian infantry brigade at #Makariv near #Kyiv, a Russian tankist with his tank ran over his brigade commander Col. Yuri Medvedev. He survived but his legs were broken. Source: #Ukraine journo R. Tsimbaliuk. pic.twitter.com/nE9Wgad1vB
— Victor Kovalenko (@MrKovalenko) March 23, 2022
