DARING SNIPERS
Sas-trained squad kills top targets
THREE of Vladimir Putin’s top men have been killed by Ukrainian snipers – trained just days earlier by the SAS.
The trio, who included a Russian major general, died as it was claimed the invading army had lost 10,000 men in the first 10 days of war.
The news also boosted hopes that the Russian attack is already in trouble.
Russian Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky, 47, was killed by the snipers along with a divisional commander and a regiment commander.
But as Ukrainian troops rally to the cry to save their country, former British
Army chief Lord Dannatt told the Sunday People that Putin could use a localised nuke to turn the tide.
His terrifying warning came as Ukrainians posted footage online of a Russian aircraft being shot out of the sky.
The clip shows the target – believed to be an MI-24 Hind helicopter gunship – being brought down by a surface-toair missile.
It is seen ablaze before it plunges to the ground and explodes in a fireball. A caption posted alongside the footage declared: “Glory to Ukraine.” Hundreds of Russian tanks, armoured vehicles, helicopters and fighter aircraft have so far been destroyed.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky earlier declared his forces are killing up to a thousand Russian troops a day.
The toll of 10,000 in 10 days is astonishing compared with the 14,000 lost in 10 years by the Soviet Union in its Afghan war that ended in 1989. Russia currently has more than 900,000 active personnel.
The Kremlin is reported to be “demoralised” by the losses, which come alongside 30,000 wounded.
Many of the Russian soldiers sent to fight in Ukraine are believed to be aged just 18 and poorly trained.
Russian Pows have told how they had no idea they were going into battle and thought they were on an exercise.
Bullying and abuse of young recruits is rife in the Russian forces. One source said: “Life for young recruits is brutal. It is little wonder so many of them are
surrendering.” General Sir Richard Dannatt told us the Russian generals’ inability to mount a major all-arms operation had been “woefully exposed”.
He said: “Their battlefield leadership has been appalling.
“The absence of clearly explained reasons for the operation to their troops has been verging on the criminal – asking young men to risk and lose their lives without knowing why.
“The conscripts believed they were going into Ukraine as liberators and peacekeepers. They were shocked to find themselves opposed. Their true casualty figure will be very high – and probably never known.”
A shocked Lord Dannatt added: “To compound things, it would appear officers have been abandoning their soldiers, trapped in their vehicles on the huge northern convoy, in order to save their own skins.
“This is a moral and military failure of the highest order.”
Lord Dannatt said he believed the war would become a stalemate – but Putin’s men would gain some ground in the weeks ahead as a result of their superior air and fire power. He said: “The big battalions usually win.
“But this could all take time – and time is not on Putin’s side as sanctions and international isolation begin to bite. So, there must be a negotiated settlement.
“Who will facilitate that? Putin hates the West, but he fears China. The US should be using deniable back channels to talk to the Chinese, to persuade them to put an arm around Putin and guide him to the conference table.”
Chillingly, he warned Putin could deploy a tactical or battlefield nuclear weapon to topple Kyiv.
Lord Dannatt said: “They might consider using a small tactical nuclear weapon to break a deadlock – north of Kyiv to gain entry to the city, perhaps. A nightmare scenario. We can only hope and pray that he doesn’t.”
In the opening days of the conflict, Putin placed his nuclear forces on “high alert” – condemned by NATO and the US as “totally unacceptable”.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later warned that if a Third World War broke out, it would involve nuclear weapons.
Russian troops have made progress in the south and east of Ukraine but the vast armoured convoy around 40 miles long is currently stuck on roads north of Kyiv.
Defence sources believe the Russian advance has been halted by Ukrainian ambushes, the destruction of vital bridges and a lack of logistical planning.