Vladimir Putin is believed to have been dealt a huge blow as three Russian colonels were reportedly killed in a single attack.
Ukrainian forces hit on November 1 the Dnipro command headquarters on the Arabat Spit, near the Sea of Azov, a number of reports have claimed.
The attack was dealt with British-made Storm Shadow missiles, according to one of the sources who spoke about this attack, the Telegram channel Airborne Forces for Honesty and Justice.
The strike at the HQ reportedly killed the Airborne Forces Command deputy heads, Colonel Vadim Dobryakov and Colonel Alexander Galkin, and the head of the operational management department of the Airborne Forces Headquarters, Colonel Alexey Koblov.
Reporting news of the strike, Ukrainian news outlet Obozrevatel said Colonel Koblov had risen in popularity within the Russian military for his role during what Russia called “peacekeeping operations” in Abkhazia and for “distinguishing himself” in clashes against Ukraine in the Donbas region.
The colonel, the news outlet added, had already been laid to rest in Kostroma, a riverside city in western Russia.
It is not known whether Colonel Mikhail Teplinsky, who leads the Russian headquarters and is widely considered one of his country’s best commanders, was at the base at the moment of the Ukrainian attack.
One of the sources reporting the deadly strike, the Telegram channel Cheka-OGPU, suggested Russia tried to keep the humiliating attack a secret, as it wrote: “The strike area has been cordoned off, and a command has been given to prevent the dissemination of information about the attack.”
Storm Shadow missiles were first provided to Ukraine by the UK, as announced in May by the then Defence Minister Ben Wallace.
France is now also supplying the Ukraine military with these cruise missiles, which can be fired by Ukrainian aircraft and have a range of more than 150 miles.
Ukraine has killed a number of Russian officers over the past 21 months of conflict.
The first to fall by the hand of Ukrainian soldiers was Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky, who was reportedly shot dead in March 2022 by a sniper.
Another Major General, 35th Combined Arms Army chief of staff Sergey Goryachev, was killed in June during a missile strike in the Zaporizhzhia region.
While Russia doesn’t share its losses, Ukraine estimated the Kremlin has lost more than 307,000 troops since the beginning of the war as well as almost 10,000 armoured vehicles and 20 ships.
