James Stavridis, the former commander-in-chief of NATO allies for Europe, said on Sunday that the “amazing incompetence” of the Russian army in invading Ukraine had led to an unprecedented number of deaths between generals and other high-ranking officers. Stavridis remarked on Russian forces in a WABC 770 AM radio interview with New York businessman John Katsimatidis. “In modern history, there is no comparable situation regarding the deaths of generals … Here, on the Russian side, in the space of two months, we have seen at least twelve, if not more, Russian generals being killed,” he told Katsimatidis. Stavridis noted that “not a single general was lost in the real battle” while the US was involved in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. “It’s not just the generals who are being killed,” he said of the Russian military, but also noted the malfunctioning logistics and mediocre battle plans, along with the loss of its flagship in the Black Sea Moskva. “It was a bad performance by the Russians so far,” he added. The top Russian military leaders reportedly killed are Vladimir Petrovich Frolov, the deputy commander of the 8th Army. Vitaly Gerasimov, the first deputy commander of the 41st Army. and Sergei Suharev, commander-in-chief of the 331st Parachute Guards Regiment. Stavridis accused Russia of committing war crimes across the country, starting with “the illegal invasion of a neighbor and a democracy” and escalating the battle to include the “slaughter” of civilians. The commander said General Alexander Dvornikov – who was deployed from Moscow to lead the conflict – was “well known in the Western secret services as the ‘Butcher of Syria’”. Dvornikov led Russian forces in Syria in 2015, and human rights groups are closely monitoring his efforts. Stavridis said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “creating NATO expansion by unjustifiably attacking a neighbor”, nothing that “more nations may join NATO as a result, especially Sweden and Finland, which [have] very capable soldiers “. “It’s not just the NATO alliance. It’s the democracies around the world,” he said, noting Japan’s strong opposition to Russia’s actions. Last month, retired General David Petraeus – a former CIA director who led the 101st Airborne Division during the 2003 Iraq war and commanded US forces in Afghanistan – echoed similar sentiments in the CN. forces were “unexpectedly unprofessional” in fulfilling their mission in Ukraine. “They clearly have very poor standards in performing basic tactical tasks, such as achieving combined weapons operations, which include armor, infantry, engineering, artillery and mortars,” he said. He added: “We have known for decades that the Soviet system, now the Russian system, has not always had one of the key strengths of the US and Western troops, which is a strong, professional corps of non-commissioned officers.”
