There has been much commentary on the poor performance of Russian generals in Ukraine, and how a lot of them have gotten killed.
The issue reminds me of an incident that happened in World War II, with my grandfather. My grandfather commanded an artillery battery in the Soviet Army. One time, he and his men were trying to cross a river using improvised barges (there were no intact bridges in the vicinity). Just as they had finished laboriously loading two of the guns on a barge, a general and his staff approached the river bank.
The general ordered my grandfather to dump the guns in the river, so that he (the general) and his aides could appropriate the barge for themselves, and cross quickly; unloading the guns back on land would have taken a long time, and the general didn't want to wait.
My grandfather outright refused to obey what he considered to be a ridiculous and stupid order. He thought the guns were more valuable to the cause than the general! Moreover, Nathan accompanied his refusal with a stream of colorful Russian expletives that he used to explain what the general should do with himself.
The general could have had grandfather - a mere lieutenant - shot for disobeying orders in a time of war. But, instead, he backed down, and (as far as he knew) never did anything about the incident. Perhaps the general was afraid the story would make him look bad, if his own superiors heard about it.
The story highlights the poor logistics of the Russian Army, and the dubious quality of some of its leaders. That said, the WWII-era Red Army had some very good generals, as well, especially later in the war, after many of the incompetent hacks got purged and more capable men were promoted.
Their logistics also improved over time, with a major assist from US-supplied trucks. My grandfather always remembered how his guns were transported on US-made Studebakers, which was true of a high proportion of all Soviet artillery.
