Russian General Roman Kutuzov has been killed on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, Russian state-owned media reported Sunday.
If confirmed by the Russian military, Kutuzov would be at least the fourth Russian general killed in more than three months of fighting in Ukraine.
“The general had led soldiers into attack, as if there are not enough colonels,” said Alexander Sladkov, a war correspondent for state-owned Russian media.
“On the other hand, Roman was a commander like everyone else, albeit with a higher rank,” Sladkov wrote on his Telegram channel.
Kutuzov commanded the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic 1st Army Corps, according to Ukrainian naval infantry officer Dmitry Ivanov.
Kutuzov had ordered his troops to storm a Donetsk region settlement Sunday and “was forced to lead the assault,” Ivanov wrote on Facebook.
Russian media has reported on the deaths of three generals since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s General Staff claims at least 12 Russian generals killed.
At least 317 Russian officers have been killed in Ukraine, a third of whom are majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels, independent Russian media reported in April, citing publicly available data.
The deaths of senior officers jeopardize the army’s capacity to plan and execute military operations and are a blow to morale on the frontline.
