Putin ‘loses 18 officers including 4 colonels burned alive in sabotage mission’

A deadly Ukrainian operation has robbed Russia of 18 officers – with one of Vladimir Putin’s most senior staff members killed as fire swept through a command post

Vladimir Putin^[1] has lost 18 of his top military officers, including four colonels, after they were burned alive in their command post during a Ukrainian sabotage operation^[2].

The most senior Russian^[3] officer killed was named as Colonel Ilya Makhotin, 45, deputy chief of staff of the Rocket Forces and Artillery Department of the 35th Combined Arms Army. The inferno is believed to have been a joint operation by Ukraine’s^[4] GUR military intelligence and saboteurs behind enemy lines.

The ‘I want to Live’ Ukrainian state Telegram channel said dry grass has been ignited near the command post of Putin’s 35th Combined Arms Army in occupied Zaporizhzhia region. “The fire quickly spread to the premises and dugouts of the command post,” it read.

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“Due to smoke and carbon monoxide filling the command post, the operational staff of the headquarters could not escape.” The report said that the remains of 13 officers were evacuated from the incinerated command post at Voskresenka in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region.

The remains of four more officers, including intelligence chief Lt-Col Sergey Konoyko, 47, along with a military drone operator were impossible to extract, said the report. Among the dead were Lt-Col Dmitry Pashabekov, 48, and Lt-Col Ruslan Shigabutdinov, 34.

The report also stated six army majors were also killed. The inferno took place on 30 August but full details of the disaster for Putin’s forces have only now emerged. This also includes the funerals of two of the killed colonels. Speaking of the operation, the head of Ukraine’s Occupation Study Centre, Petro Andryushchenko, said it was a “successful joint operation of the GUR and the Mariupol Resistance”.

The command post was “burned to the ground”. Separately, Ukraine caused a major blow to Russia^[7] as two long distance drones struck oil-producing Gazprom Neftekhim plant in Salavat, Bashkortostan region.

The plant – some 850 miles from the nearest Ukrainian controlled city – went up in smoke. Separately, an oil refinery was hit in Volgograd region. Both plants are crucial for supplies to the Russian armed forces^[8]. Around a quarter of Russia’s oil production has been wiped out by recent Ukrainian attacks. This has disrupted exports, used to fund Putin’s war. It has also led to petrol queues at filling stations and sharply rising prices.

Last week, the spokesman for the Russian President said NATO countries are “at war with Russia” over Ukraine^[9]. Dmitry Peskov^[10] told Russian state media last Monday. “This is obvious, and it does not require any additional evidence. NATO provides direct and indirect support to the Kyiv regime.” Peskov’s comments reiterated a familiar Kremlin narrative that Western backing of Ukraine amounts to active participation in the conflict.

Tensions soared last week between NATO’s Eastern European allies and Russia. A total of 19 Russian drones flew over Poland^[11] overnight on Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, adding that at least three were shot down by Polish and NATO aircraft.

“This situation brings us the closest we have been to open conflict since World War Two,” Tusk warned. The incident marked the first time Russian drones were downed over NATO territory since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

The Russian ambassador to Bucharest was summoned in protest over what Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu called a “violation of Romania’s sovereignty”. The UK Foreign Office also condemned Russia’s “unprecedented violation” of Polish and Romanian airspace, branding the incursions “utterly unacceptable”.