Ukrainian intelligence officials claim that yet another high-ranking Russian military officer has been killed, which, if confirmed, would be the second such fatality in a week amid Russia's war in Ukraine.
Maj. Gen. Vitaly Gerasimov, chief of staff and first deputy commander of the 41st Army of the Central Military District of Russia, was "eliminated" during fighting near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s defense intelligence directorate said in a Facebook post on Monday. He was 45, according to the Associated Press.Gerasimov took part in the Second Chechen War and the Russian military operation in Syria, the intelligence agency said.
News of Gerasimov's death, which has not been independently confirmed, comes after Maj. Gen. Andrey Sukhovetsky, the commanding general of the Russian 7th Airborne Division, was reported to have been killed by a sniper during a heated fight between Russian and Ukrainian forces. This is not the worst part. In the phone call in which the FSB officer assigned to the 41st Army reports the death to his boss in Tula, he says they've lost all secure communications. Thus the phone call using a local sim card. Thus the intercept. pic.twitter.com/cgHHo7VaRi
— Christo Grozev March 7, 2022 Russian news website Pravda.ru reported what his comrade-in-arms, Sergey Chipilev, wrote on social media:"With great pain, we learned the tragic news of the death of our friend, Major General Andrey Sukhovetsky, on the territory of Ukraine during the special operation. We express our deepest condolences to his family."Ukraine claimed Sunday that more than 11,000 Russian troops had been killed since the beginning of the invasion.