Ukraine Says Three Russian Major Generals Killed, Russia Yet To Respond To Claims

Ukraine claimed that more than three senior officials of the Russian army were killed by its forces as the war in the eastern European nation entered Day 16. Ukrainian armed forces claimed that they killed Russian military senior official major general Andrei Kolesnikov on Friday. Earlier in March, the Ukrainians claimed that Vitaly Gerasimov and Andrei Sukhovetsky, both major generals, were killed by the Ukrainian forces.

Gerasimov was among those who led Russian forces in the second Chechen war, in Syria in the fight against Islamic State and during the annexation of Crimea. His death was reported by England-based outlets the Guardian and the Independent. It was first confirmed by Bellingcat, the investigative journalism portal.

Russian newspaper Pravda and Sergey Chipilev, a deputy of the Combat Brotherhood Russian veterans group, were quoted by news agency the Independent to have confirmed the death of Andrei Sukhovetsky. Russia officially however has not confirmed either of these three deaths. The news of these deaths are acting as a morale booster for the Ukrainian army but assessments made in terms of military strength indicate that the war is going to be a protracted and long one with the Russian army expected to overrun the Ukrainian resistance.

UK defence minister Ben Wallace made a gloomy prediction with respect to the deaths of Russian generals that could demotivate Russian army men. He also claimed that Russia has exhausted its army. He told BBC’s Radio 4 that there is a chance that the Russian army may be ‘turning in on itself’ due to losses inflicted.

Meanwhile, Russian tanks continue to march towards Kyiv, news reports highlighted that the columns seen previously outside Kyiv and its suburbs of Russian military vehicles have now been dispersed and redeployed. The US warned that the redeployment meant a renewed Russian attack. Ukrainian authorities said that Russia is testing Kyiv’s defences to the north and west of the capital.

As the war in Ukraine wages on and enters its 16th day, claims and counterclaims by Russia and Ukraine regarding advances and losses continue to rise. The war has also been an example of information warfare where information becomes hard to verify in a conflict zone.

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