VLADIMIR PUTIN has suffered yet another devastating blow after he lost his 42nd colonel in his bloody war in Ukraine.
Russia war: Denis Kozlov died after Ukrainian river crossing ambush (Image: EASTTOWEST)
Colonel Denis Kozlov, 40, was among Russian troops who were killed on May 11 in a failed advance across the Donets River at Bilohorivka after being ambushed by Ukrainian forces. He had only recently replaced Colonel Sergei Porokhnya, 45, who was killed in Ukraine on March 14. But Kozlov has now become the second commander of the 12th Separate Guards Engineers of Keningsbersko-Gorodokskaya Red Banner Brigade to die in the war with Ukraine.
The Russian colonel was guiding a pontoon ferry across the river, west of the city of Lysychansk, in the Donbas region.
But he was killed after Ukrainian forces launched missile strikes on the area.
The latest disaster for Russia has been revealed by satellite images which show the remains of two pontoon bridges drifting in the Donets river.
This is seen surrounded by the ruins of destroyed tanks and armoured vehicles.
It is believed Russian commanders were trying to surround Lysychansk - and its sister city of Severodonetsk - with the crossing.
But they were outsmarted when Ukrainian forces correctly guessed their plan.
Twitter user "Maxim", who claims to be a Ukrainian military engineer, said he identified the area where Russia was most-likely to try crossing the river on May 7.
He then informed his commanders they should listen out for tugboat engines pushing a pontoon bridge into place as a certain sign a crossing was close.
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The social media user said early on May 8, Russian forces smothered the river with smoke after burning nearby fields and throwing smoke grenades.
However, his commanders recognised the sound of boat engines and called in artillery strikes that ended up having a devastating impact.
Days after he was killed, Kozlov was decorated with the Russian Order of Courage, and laid to rest in his hometown of Murom.
But his death highlights the huge struggles Putin's troops have suffered in their failing invasion of Ukraine.
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Overall, the death rate is around one colonel every two days since the start of the war nearly three months ago.
Russian forces have left a path of destruction throughout Ukraine since the war in their neighbouring country began on February 24.
But Putin's plan has quickly fallen apart, with fierce Ukrainian resistance pushing Russian troops back out of major cities they had been confident of occupying.
The immense struggles have also seen the Russian President's top-brass become severely depleted.
Since the war in Ukraine began, nine Russian generals are known to have died.
This comes with the US reportedly helping Ukraine with intelligence to enable them to target Putin's top-brass.
In its latest intelligence update released this morning, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Russian troops have struggled to gain control of the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, adding this would have contributed to significant personnel losses of Russian forces.
The MoD added: "Despite Russian forces having encircled Mariupol for over 10 weeks, staunch Ukrainian resistance delayed Russia’s ability to gain full control over the city.
"This frustrated its early attempts to capture a key city and inflicted costly personnel losses amongst Russian forces."
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1612161/Russia-war-Ukraine-colonel-dead-Vladimir-Putin-river-crossing-ambush-Denis-Kozlov
Vladimir Putin loses 42nd colonel in war with Ukraine
Russian Colonel Killed in Ukraine During Botched River Crossing—Report
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