ATACMS Strike on Russian Command Center 'Killed Three Colonels': Report

Three Russian colonels were reportedly killed when Ukrainian forces fired a missile on the headquarters of the Russian Dnieper military group in the partially occupied southern Kherson region last week.

The Russian Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, which purports to have inside information from Russian security forces, and Public Reserve Stugna, an organization created to support Ukraine's Stugna special forces battalion, said the three officers were killed on November 1 as a result of an attack on the base using U.S.-provided Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS).

ATACMS are capable of reaching targets 100 miles away, or even further.

The Ukrainian strike on the headquarters belonging to the Dnipro Group of Forces was also reported by the Institute for the Study of War's (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, last week. British intelligence officials assessed in April that the Russian group was likely deployed to defend Ukraine's Kherson region, which it partially occupies.

The three officers reportedly killed were Colonel Vadim Dobriakov, deputy head of the command center of the Airborne Forces Command; Colonel Alexey Koblov, head of the operational department of the Airborne Forces headquarters; and Colonel Alexander Galkin, deputy head of the command center of the Airborne Forces Command.

The officers died "when the command post of the [Dnipro] group...was attacked," the VChK-OGPU outlet said, adding that the strike "was carried out by an ATACMS missile."

Shortly after the alleged attack, Russian Telegram channel Astra reported the group of forces was recently led by Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky, and that it's unknown whether Teplinsky was injured in the attack.

Teplinksy, the commander of Russia's airborne forces, was named as commander of the Dnipro military group last week, state-run news agency Tass reported, citing an unnamed source.

Russian newspaper Izvestia separately reported that he had replaced Colonel General Oleg Makarevich.

The Ukraine military-linked Operativno ZSU channel said last week that "Russian commanders from the Dnipro Group of Forces were not very lucky today," adding that the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a missile attack on the headquarters and that "something flew (several times)."

Ukrainian and Russian officials have yet to comment on the reports. Newsweek has contacted Russian and Ukrainian authorities via email for comment.

The development comes as Ukraine is pushing to expand its bridgehead on the Russian-controlled east bank of the Dnieper river.

Kyiv's troops reached the occupied side of the Dnieper in mid-October after extensive cross-river operations. That followed Ukraine's successful liberation of the city of Kherson and the west bank of the river toward the end of 2022.

The ISW assessed on Tuesday that Ukraine's armored vehicles have now reached the east bank, and that Kyiv is "continuing larger-than-usual ground operations...with a light infantry grouping of roughly battalion size."

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