Tragic death of two Russian reconnaissance officers heralds major changes at Defence Ministry

State Duma deputy Mikhail Delyagin sent a letter to Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov with five pieces of advice following the tragedy that occurred to reconnaissance officers Goodwin (Dmitry Lysakovsky) and Ernest (Sergey Gritsai). The officers were transferred from UAV to attack aircraft missions and did not return from a combat mission.

Goodwin and Ernest served in the 87th separate rifle regiment of the Southern Military District where they were engaged in UAV reconnaissance. In September, they exposed a conflicting episode that took place with their command. They claimed that they were ordered to switch from UAV reconnaissance to attack aircraft missions. The officers published a video message, in which they said that they were sent for a "one way" mission. The officers did not return from the mission. 

Following the incident, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov instructed Colonel General Viktor Goremykin and Chief of the General Staff, Army General Valery Gerasimov, to look into the situation together with the FSB.

In his address to the Defense Ministry, MP Mikhail Delyagin stated that the situation with the reconnaissance officers revealed “systemic problems” in a number of units of the Russian Army. Delyagin suggested that Defence Minister Belousov should amend Combat Regulations of the Russian Armed Forces so that the document takes into account the modern-day use of drones on a large scale. The MP also suggested Minister Belousov should adjust the staffing schedules of military units. This would help avoid situations in which drone operators are classified as “shooters.”

In addition, Delyagin suggested that the Defense Minister issues an order similar to the document Joseph Stalin had signed in 1942.

"Issue an order similar to Stalin's order (...) "On the use of tankers according to their specialty" that strongly prohibits skill mismatch (including in assault units of representatives of military specialties that require complex training), Mikhail Delyagin wrote on Telegram. 

Earlier, Goodwin's widow said that she still had no information about the whereabouts of her husband's body. Goodwin and Earnest were officially listed as missing.

Dmitry Lysakovsky, call sign Goodwin, the former head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) air reconnaissance unit, was killed in the zone of the special military operation in Ukraine after being transferred to attack aircraft missions.

"They were [given] an order, they went to carry it out like warriors even understanding the true background of the "order". While we were trying to resolve the issue of their transfer through the army bureaucracy, without scandals and publicity, both were killed in action. There is no one to transfer. Ernest and Goodwin were men of honour and duty," author of Telegram channel PriZrak Novorossii Vladimir Grubnik wrote.