Two more Russian colonels have
been killed in Ukraine – including the country’s “best paratroop
commander” delivering another blow to Vladimir Putin’s war.
Lt Col Alexander Dosyagayev,
34, was a commander of an airborne assault battalion of the 104th paratrooper
regiment.
Troops from his 104th air
assault regiment were reportedly in Bucha, which was the scene of alleged
rape and torture atrocities by Vladimir Putin’s forces earlier in the war.
His battalion based in Pskov
had been recognized as the best in Russia in its extensive combat training and
military discipline and was judged the winner of the Winged Infantry category
at the 2021 military festival, Army of Russia.
“I was filled with pride that
my soldiers and officers showed the result they were striving for,” Dosyagayev
said.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces gave
little acknowledgment to Dosyagayev’s achievements in their statement on his
death writing: “This did not help him at a meeting with Ukrainian warriors.”
Russian media outlet Mediazona
confirmed the death of another colonel killed earlier in the war which has not
been announced.
Col Vladimir Ivanov, 41, has
been labelled a “propagandist” by the Ukrainian media because he served in the
Russian defence ministry’s department of Information and Mass Communication. It
is now established that he died in March fighting in Ukraine.
