Russian 37th Motorized Rifle Brigade battalion commander Bato Munkuyev took his own life on 10 June after a Ukrainian strike on the Chonhar Bridge collapsed his unit's fuel supplies, Ukraine's 1st Separate Assault Regiment named after Dmytro Kotsyubailo (Da Vinci) says. The Ukrainian unit claims Russian command pressured Munkuyev to execute combat tasks while his battalion lacked sufficient fuel, ammunition, and reinforcements.
The Ukrainian soldiers link the commander's death to documented Ukrainian strikes on the Chonhar Bridge on 7 June and 9 June that halted Russian fuel and supply movement from Crimea to the southern frontline.
The 37th brigade had been specifically waiting for fuel supplies via the Chonhar route, Ukrainian commander Dmytro Filatov "Perun" said on 10 June.
Bridge strike halted Russian logistics movement
"The Chonhar Bridge was not chosen by accident. The 37th Motorized Rifle Brigade was operating against Ukrainian forces in this direction, and it was specifically waiting for fuel supplies via this route," Filatov told Army TV.
The bridge was not fully destroyed, but the damage to the road surface proved sufficient to completely stop traffic. Part of the Russian cargo did not reach the frontline after the strike.
The Chonhar Bridge was struck on 7 June and 9 June, with the second strike halting traffic that had partially resumed after the first attack.
Munkuyev and 37th brigade: Buryatian unit with documented Bucha-area war crimes
According to the 1st Assault Regiment, Munkuyev has served in the Russian armed forces since at least 2015 and was promoted to the rank of major and to battalion command this year.
The Russian 37th Motorized Rifle Brigade is stationed at Kyakhta, Buryatia, as part of the 36th Combined Arms Army of Russia's Eastern Military District, per Ukrainska Pravda.
The brigade has been implicated in war crimes during the Russian occupation of Makariv and the surrounding Bucha district communities, including a November 2025 conviction of a 37th brigade member for rape committed during the occupation.
Ukrainian investigative journalists and the Belarusian Investigative Center have documented their involvement in the Kyiv-Chop highway atrocities of March 2022, when Russian forces opened fire on civilian vehicles attempting to evacuate the Kyiv area, per RBC-Ukraine, citing Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
