Based on comments from the Defense Sec of the Brits, it sounds like it isn't a normal thing:
"If I was a soldier and knew that my generals had so little faith in me that they followed me around the battlefield with a mobile crematorium, or I was the mother or father of a son, potentially deployed into a combat zone, and my government thought that the way to cover up loss was mobile crematorium, I'd be deeply, deeply worried." ~Ben Wallace
President Vladimir Putin has arrested his own military chief, meanwhile the highly-respected head of the Russian Central Bank bank boss has quit, indicating Putin's crumbling inner circle.
The head of the Russian Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, 58, has reportedly handed in her resignation amid claims she stood up to Putin over his war in Ukraine, which is into its third week.
Meanwhile, General Roman Gavrilov, the deputy chief of Russia 's Rosgvardia unit, which was the spearhead of the first push into Ukrainian territory, has been arrested by the feared Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, The Daily Star reports.
...
The former economic adviser to the Kremlin leader told reportedly told Putin that his invasion of Ukraine has plunged the Russian economy into a “sewer”, adding: “I am an expert in a completely different field.”
The loss of Nabiullina, would pose a huge blow to Putin and signal a deepening crisis for the crisis-ridden Russian economy which has seen the rouble plunge and the massive loss of international financial links.
Meanwhile, General Roman Gavrilov, the deputy chief of Russia 's Rosgvardia unit, which was the spearhead of the first push into Ukrainian territory, has been arrested by the feared Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, The Daily Star reports.
If I remember Dr. Zhivago correctly, the troops slogging their way back to Moscow remembered the bitter war and their mistreatment at the front. The troops will see the mistreatment of their General.
A surprising number of Russian generals—major and lieutenant generals, not just brigadiers—seem to have been killed in Ukraine. I don't really know what to make of this but it sounds strange.
Generals shouldn't usually be coming within sniper range of the enemy. This isn't 1865 any more, with generals on horseback waving swords and shouting alongside the ranks advancing shoulder-to-shoulder. Modern units operate dispersed across empty battlefields, communicating by radio and engaging at long range. A major general is usually responsible for at least a few thousand troops, spread out over at least ten miles of frontage and several miles of depth. If they get shot while inspecting some small forward unit then the whole division may be ineffective for hours and it will be handicapped for days even after a replacement takes command.
The same principle holds, on smaller scales, at all levels. A platoon commander doesn't occupy the forward slit trench. The other principle, though, is that some things actually haven't changed so much since 1865. The commander is personally responsible for their whole unit. If the front trench isn't answering, the platoon commander will have to crawl forward to check on them. If nobody gets up off the ground to attack, the platoon commander stands up, even if bullets are flying, and starts kicking people. If the whole forward platoon isn't moving, the company commander will come up personally. And if a company bogs down, the battalion commander arrives.
And so on up the chain. If it gets to the point that major generals are coming close enough to the front line to get shot, then things are not going well.
Good thought, PG. It's been something I've wondered about, too. Especially given the number believed killed by sniper fire rather than a drone or artillery fire.
One report I'd read discussed the Russian military being very centralized in it's command structure. Troops have little to no autonomy to make decisions in the field, battle plans are adamantine rather than adaptable, and mission objectives obscure at surprising levels of the chain of command. Almost a caricature of bad military organization, which is why I'm somewhat skeptical that it's entirely accurate. But it seems to have some truth to it, too.
Yeah, I don't really know. I was only ever a reserve lieutenant, for just a few years, many years ago now. It was long enough ago, though, in fact, that we learned a lot about Warsaw Pact military formations, at least as far as they were understood by NATO intelligence. I could recognize all kinds of Soviet equipment by silhouette; I had no clue what most NATO vehicles looked like but the rule was simply not to shoot anything that wasn't obviously Soviet.
Thirty years isn't actually that long in the lifespan of military doctrine and culture. The current Russian army probably still has a lot of old Soviet DNA. The impression we received then of the Soviet forces was that they had large numbers and a few quite good designs of equipment, but nobody without a commission was trusted to tie their own shoes. They had far fewer radios than we had to carry around, so they were bound to be slow and inflexible because even in the early 1990s they were literally relying on semaphore flags to pass orders. They didn't lack radio technology—they sent probes to other planets—but they didn't trust non-commissioned personnel with radios.
The one thing we were led to fear was Soviet artillery, because they supposedly had so much of it. It seems to be the only thing that's really working for the Russians now in Ukraine. It's a bit spooky for me how much from those old threat lectures seems to fit with the news we read. But I never knew much, what I thought I knew might have been wrong even then, and whatever was right may well no longer be true.
Unofficial reports from U.S. intelligence indicate that the Russian force has shrunk by about 10% since the invasion started. There are reports of troops being sent home with frostbite.
Physics guy, I liked your hypothesis as to why so many generals are being killed. I wouldn't be surprised if the Russians didn't have some incidents of fragging as the war drags on.
The great problem of any civilization is how to rejuvenate itself without rebarbarization.
- Will Durant "Of what meaning is the world without mind? The question cannot exist."
- Edwin Land
A surprising number of Russian generals—major and lieutenant generals, not just brigadiers—seem to have been killed in Ukraine. I don't really know what to make of this but it sounds strange.
Generals shouldn't usually be coming within sniper range of the enemy. This isn't 1865 any more, with generals on horseback waving swords and shouting alongside the ranks advancing shoulder-to-shoulder. Modern units operate dispersed across empty battlefields, communicating by radio and engaging at long range. A major general is usually responsible for at least a few thousand troops, spread out over at least ten miles of frontage and several miles of depth. If they get shot while inspecting some small forward unit then the whole division may be ineffective for hours and it will be handicapped for days even after a replacement takes command.
The same principle holds, on smaller scales, at all levels. A platoon commander doesn't occupy the forward slit trench. The other principle, though, is that some things actually haven't changed so much since 1865. The commander is personally responsible for their whole unit. If the front trench isn't answering, the platoon commander will have to crawl forward to check on them. If nobody gets up off the ground to attack, the platoon commander stands up, even if bullets are flying, and starts kicking people. If the whole forward platoon isn't moving, the company commander will come up personally. And if a company bogs down, the battalion commander arrives.
And so on up the chain. If it gets to the point that major generals are coming close enough to the front line to get shot, then things are not going well.
They're using cell phones to communicate when stalled. The Ukrainians are able to geolocate them and pick them off. I don't know how that fits with your above.
LIGHT HAS A NAME
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF
