Ukraine claims it has killed another Russian general during fighting in Kharkiv

Officials say fighting also killed ‘a number’ of senior Russian army officers

Ukraine claims it has killed another Russian general during fighting in the city of Kharkiv.

The embattled country’s Ministry of Defence claimed that its forces had killed Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, first deputy commander of the 41st Army of the Central Military District of Russia.

“Another loss among the senior command staff of the occupying army,” the department claimed on Monday.

“During the fighting near Kharkiv, Vitaly Gerasimov, a Russian military leader, major general, chief of staff and first deputy commander of the 41st Army of the Central Military District of Russia, was killed. A number of senior Russian army officers were also killed and wounded.

“Vitaly Gerasimov took part in the second Chechen war and the Russian military operation in Syria. He received a medal ‘for the return of the Crimea,’” they added.

“The data obtained also indicate significant problems with communication in the occupier’s army and with the evacuation of their broken units.”

The latest high-profile killing, comes after Andrei Sukhovetsky, the commanding general of the Russian 7th Airborne Division and a deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army, was shot and killed by a sniper.

Mr Putin confirmed that a general had been killed in a speech updating the Russian people on the progress of the conflict, eight days into the deadly invasion.

Russia claims 498 of its soldiers have been killed in Ukraine and another 1,597 have been wounded.

However, British officials say the actual number of those killed and wounded will almost certainly be considerably higher and will continue to rise.

The Ukrainian army said on Monday that Russia was preparing to storm the country’s capital.

The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said Russian troops were “beginning to accumulate resources for the storming of Kyiv” after they had failed to seize the capital for more than a week after the full-scale invasion was launched.

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