Sergei Gritsai

Position Unknown - Lieutenant Colonel

Unit: 87th Separate Rifle Regiment, 1st Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade, 51st Donetsk Combined Arms Army, 8th Guards Combined Arms Army, Southern Military District

Cargo ID: #1391

Call Sign: "Ernest" (Эрнест)

English Name: Sergei Viktorovich Gritsai

Russian Name: Грицай Сергей Викторович

Sergei Gritsai, known by his call sign "Ernest," was a retired lieutenant colonel in the Russian Strategic Missile Forces and an "expert UAV pilot". Alongside Sergeant Dmitry Lysakovsky, nicknamed "Goodwin," he had been involved in military operations in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) since 2014. Both were experienced drone operators and were considered valuable specialists in their field.

Prior to their deaths, Gritsai and Lysakovsky recorded video messages accusing their superior, Colonel Igor Puzik (call sign "Evil"), of serious misconduct. They alleged that Puzik was involved in corruption, incompetence, profiteering, and even collaborating with the enemy. Specific accusations included involvement in drug trafficking, misappropriation of regimental assets, and ordering unlawful actions against subordinates. Gritsai reportedly wrote a nine-page document detailing these alleged crimes, including an incident where Puzik allegedly shot and killed a subordinate, A. B. Novikov.

Ernest and Goodwin also accused Colonel Puzik's wife, Ekaterina Kornienko, of involvement in corrupt activities. They alleged that she, along with her sister Valentina, operate a Telegram channel called "KatyaValyaDNR," which is ostensibly dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to soldiers. According to them, Kornienko and her sister were misrepresenting refurbished drones as new ones in their aid efforts and profiting off the donations of ordinary Russian people.

According to Goodwin and Ernest, their UAV reconnaissance unit was disbanded due to their criticisms, they were forcibly reassigned to a storm unit, and immediately ordered into what they considered a suicide mission. Before embarking on the mission, they requested that their video messages be made public if they did not return. Both men were subsequently killed during the operation.

Notably, Dmitry Lysakovsky was a friend of Andrei "Murz" Morozov [Cargo ID #1156], a fellow military blogger and veteran of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Morozov had also been critical of certain leadership practices, and "committed suicide" six months before Goodwin and Ernest were killed.

Date of Death: September 13, 2024

Place of Death: Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine

Awards: Medal "For Courage"