Retired Admiral James Stavridis, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, says ‘incredible incompetence’ of Russian military in Ukraine led to loss of generals and other officers superiors unprecedented in modern history.

“In modern history, there is no comparable situation in terms of the deaths of generals. … Here on the Russian side, in two months, we have seen at least a dozen, if not more, Russian generals killed,” Stavridis told John Catsimatidis on WABC 770 AM in an interview that aired Sunday.

In comparison, Stavridis cited recent US conflicts, saying “not a single general was lost in action” in the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“It’s not just the generals who are being killed,” said Stavridis of the Russian military, further noting “their inability to carry out logistics”, “a bad battle plan” and “the loss of their flagship in sea”.

“It’s been a poor performance from the Russians so far,” Stavridis said.

Russian generals and senior military officials believed to have been killed during the invasion include Deputy Commander of the 8th Army Major General Vladimir Petrovich Frolov, Deputy Commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District Andrei Sukhovetsky, Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, Lieutenant General Yakov Rezantsev and Colonel Sergei Sukharev, commander of the elite 331st Guards Airborne Regiment.

In addition to criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin for military “incompetence”, the former commander also accused him of initiating war crimes against Ukraine, starting with the “illegal invasion of a neighbor and a democracy” and in particular to “massacre” civilians, destroy cities and “use rape as a weapon of war”.

Stavridis said General Alexander Dvornikov, whom Russia tasked last month with its invasion of Ukraine, is “well known to Western intelligence as the ‘butcher of Syria'”.

Dvornikov commanded Russian forces in Syria for a year from 2015. Western officials and human rights organizations have condemned the tactics employed there under Dvornikov’s command.

Stavridis added that “Vladimir Putin is creating NATO expansion by his unwarranted attack on a neighbour”, saying that “more nations could join NATO as a result of this, including Sweden and Finland, which [have] very capable soldiers.

“It’s not just the NATO alliance. These are democracies around the world,” Stavridis added, citing Japan as one of the powerful non-NATO countries opposed to Russia.

The former commander also condemned Indonesia for inviting Putin to November’s Group of 20 (G-20) summit, which the country is hosting. Putin accepted the invitation, according to Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

“The United States and the other members of the G-20 are going to have to get together and decide if they want to attend, if they will come out when Vladimir Putin comes in. There’s no reason to be in a room with Vladimir Putin. “said Stavridis.

Widodo said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also accepted an invitation to the summit.