At an incredibly astonishing rate, the Russian forces have yet again lost another high-ranking Russian officer. Lieutenant Colonel Denis Mezhuev has reportedly been killed in battle by the Ukrainians. He becomes the 33rd colonel to be killed in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has nothing been short of a bloodbath for the Kremlin.

Mezhuev, the commander of the 1st Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (also known as the 1st Guards Motor Rifle Sevastopol Red Banner Regiment), was killed, according to reports by both Ukrainian and Russian sources. However, details of his death were not given as of writing. According to intel, he moved to Ukraine’s eastern regions from Kyiv due to the Russian forces’ plan to ramp up attacks on the Donbas region.

While no official announcement from the Russian news outlets, Pro-Putin poet and composer Andrey Kovalev had announced the death of the lieutenant colonel on social media and called for the Russian official to be awarded the Hero of Russia award.

“For his deed, he is worthy of the title of Hero of Russia,” he said. Furthermore, a junior Russian politician also posted that “Denis Mezhuev died in battle. His son can be proud of his dad.

Needless to say, Lieutenant Colonel Denis Mezhuev is now part of the large number of Russian military officers that have been killed in Ukraine. This adds to the evidence of the incompetence of their forces. With over seven generals and 33 lieutenant colonels or colonels being killed, the Russian Government is saving up on its pensions and military benefits as their ranking officers say “dasvidaniya” to the world.

These reports come after a series of deaths earlier this week, starting with the captain of Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Kuprin Anton Valerievich is reportedly killed during the explosions and fires that gutted his cruiser. In previous reports, it was said that the Moskva was allegedly sunk by Ukrainian anti-ship cruise missiles. On the other hand, the Russians claim a fire started for unknown reasons on board, which led to their ammunition exploding.

Along with Valerievich’s death, there have also been unconfirmed reports that a large majority of the Moskva’s crew was killed during the alleged attack by the Ukrainians. According to an earlier report by SOFREP Editor-in-chief Sean Spoonts, a farewell ceremony was to be held in Sevastopol, reportedly organized by the families of the missing crew spontaneously, as the fate of the crew is unknown at this time. It’s estimated that the Russians lost 450 men in the Moskva incident. If proven to be true, it is the largest mass casualty event since the war started on February 24th.

Spoonts points out that if the crew had survived, the Russian government would have publicized the “heroic” rescue of the crew to boost public morale as the Russian forces have long been suffering from low motivation to fight the Ukrainians. This low morale of theirs is one of the main causes of the deaths of high-ranking military officers as they were sent to the frontlines to whip their troops back into fighting form. This is unsurprising as SOFREP has reported since the beginning of the war that the Russian forces were deployed with expired MREs, which led them to forage, loot, and eat stray dogs, and supply management issues in Ukraine.  The Ukrainians have also captured dozens of tanks, APCs, trucks and other vehicles fully armed and operational that appear to have been abandoned by their crews.

Two days ago, SOFREP’s very own Guy McCardle reported that Russian Colonel Alexander Bespalov of the 59th Guards Tank Regiment had been found dead in Ukraine after he was identified among a pile of dead bodies at a hospital. He was reportedly given a funeral in Ozersk, Russia last April 8th.

Mezhuev joins his comrades in the kill list of Ukrainians, along with Chechen special forces General Magomed Tushaev who was killed with his regiment in an ambush near Hostomel.

He is also joined by Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky, deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army, who was killed by a Ukrainian sniper, and Major General Vitaly Gerasimov who was killed in Kharkiv last March 7th. The third Russian General to be killed was Major General Andrey Kolesnikov who was the commander of the 29th Combined Arms Army.

The 4th Russian General to be killed was Major General Oleg Mitayev. He was the commander of the 150th Motorized Rifle Division and was killed on March 16th. His body was reportedly retrieved by the Russians very recently after a month of fighting as the corpse was found in Mariupol, a city that has been on Russia’s checklist since the invasion began. A pro-Russian Telegram channel named “Wargonzo” reported that the 36th Marine Brigade of the Ukrainian forces had cooperated with the Russians to evacuate the body of an unnamed general to the Russians as the body was found in Illich factory, Mariupol. This may be Mitayev’s corpse.

Lieutenant General Andrey Mordvichev was the 5th general to be killed in an encounter in Kherson on March 19th. He reportedly led the 8th Army of the Southern Military District. Days later also in Kherson, Lieutenant General Yakov Rezantsev was killed on March 25 at an airfield. He was the commander of the 49th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District of Russia.

As of April 17th, the Russian forces have incurred 20,300 estimated casualties since the start of the invasion, according to Ukrainian sources. This includes 165 planes, 146 helicopters, 773 tanks, 2,002 armored personnel carriers, and 4 mobile SRBM systems. It is difficult to put an exact number of casualties during this war, however the Ukrainian estimates were much closer to NATO and the West’s estimates in previous reports, which add to Ukrainian media reports’ collective credibility.