A Russian military official has been declared dead on the same day the Russia-Ukraine war hit its 17-month mark.
Colonel Yevgeny Vashunin, a commander of the Leningrad Regiment composed mainly of mobilized residents of Russia's Leningrad Oblast, was killed on July 14 when his group was encircled by Ukrainian militants who noticed their movements, Pravda.ru reported on Monday.
Military casualties vastly differ among pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian sources. Leaked Pentagon documents from this past spring showed that Russia suffered 189,500 to 223,000 total casualties, including 35,500 to 43,000 killed in action and 154,000 to 180,000 wounded.
Data collected by the BBC Russian Service, with the aid of MediaZona and volunteers, reported last month that at least 240 Russian soldiers died in the first month of Ukraine's current counteroffensive between June 4 and July 7—including one general, two colonels and three lieutenant colonels.
"During the clash, Colonel Vashunin was cut off from fellow soldiers and seriously wounded," Alexander Belsky, chairman of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, wrote online on Monday. "Despite the self-help measures taken, he died, fighting selflessly until the last minute."
Belsky labeled Vashunin as "a talented military leader and a worthy citizen" who dedicated his life to preserving the Russian Motherland. The colonel was posthumously presented the title of "Hero of the Russian Federation."
Mikhail Alexseev, a political science professor at San Diego State University, told Newsweek that details surrounding Vashunin's death remain murky.
"In general, when high-ranking officers are killed in action at the front, it may be an indication of potential problems with mobilizing the rank-and-file soldiers to fight," Alexseev said. "The senior officers get reports of insubordination or problems with motivation to fight and bring down pressure on them in person."
Vashunin and his men were reportedly coming to the aide of the 34th Storm brigade, which is composed of mobilized citizens—some of which were allegedly threatened recently by Russian military officers, according to Russian opposition news outlet Mobilization News.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry via email for comment.
The St. Petersburg-based news outlet Rotonda reported on Telegram that on April 26, Vashunin spoke to the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg and presented the city's governor, Alexander Beglov, with a chevron of the Leningrad Regiment. Vashunin and other deputies in the regiment reportedly were active in collecting equipment for mobilized fighters to use.
Hanna Maliar, Ukraine's deputy defense minister, told the Ukrainian Military Media Center on Monday that since June 4 the country's Armed Forces have liberated nearly 75 square miles of territory in the southeast region of Ukraine, close in proximity to the city of Zaporizhzhia. In addition, approximately 5 square miles were liberated in the past week.
As Ukrainian officials have requested patience from their allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and beyond, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin are moving forward with a new political calculus nearly a month after an attempted mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner Group fighters.
As Russian allies remain limited, and potentially more weakened due to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan giving the go-ahead to admit Sweden into NATO, Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov told Newsweek that Russia's new focus is on building up larger international ties with African nations as part of a "multipolar world order."
Update 7/25/23, 9:53 a.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Mikhail Alexseev.
