A Russian general who was killed trying to storm the south Ukrainian city of Mariupol has become the fourth Russian commander to die since the invasion began, Ukraine has claimed.
Major General Oleg Mityaev, commander of the Russian army’s 150th motorised rifle division, was killed as he tried to take the city, Kyiv has said.
A picture of the 47-year-old’s corpse was released by Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko. The Mirror has chosen not to publish it due to its graphic nature.
He is the fourth Russian general to die in less than three weeks of fighting according to Kyiv.
He died alongside seven elite special operations fighters from the feared Dzerzhinsky Division of the country’s national guard, which is under Vladimir Putin ’s direct control.
There is reportedly around 20 Russian generals leading the invasion – meaning a fifth have already died in three weeks.
He is the 4th Russian general to die, of around 20 thought to be leading the invasion into Ukraine.
This major blow to the Kremlin’s forces comes amid a warning from a top Russian airman that his country’s forces have suffered losses on a scale that will “horrify” people.
Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky was the first Russian general to die and was reportedly killed by a sniper.
Putin confirmed his death in a speech eight days into the invasion. Christo Grozev, executive director of investigative journalism outlet Bellingcat, said that confirmation of his death would be a “major demotivator” for Russian troops.
Sukhovetsky had reportedly been decorated for his role in annexing Crimea and Russian paper Pravda and graduated from Airborne Command School in 1995.
The second general to die was Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, who died in the same week.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said that Gerasimov was killed outside the eastern city of Kharkiv, along with other senior officers.
The ministry also broadcasted what it said was a conversation between two Russian FSB officers discussing the general’s death and complaining that their secure communications were no longer functioning inside Ukraine.
Then, General Andrei Kolesnikov, of the 29th Combined Arms Army, was killed in fighting on March 11.
Moscow has only confirmed the death of one general and has not yet commented on Kyiv’s claims of Mityaev.
On top of this, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported the death of another Russian general in his nighttime address but did not name him.
On top of continually losing generals, some of Russia’s best soldiers have been killed in the fighting so far.
A mourning picture was released in Russia showing the photographs of six elite “maroon beret” special forces fighters from the Vityaz Special Purpose Centre of the Dzerzhinsky Division, named after Soviet secret police founder Felix Dzerzhinsky.
It was later revealed that a seventh had been slain.
Credit: Mirror.co.uk
