Russian general killed in eastern Ukraine, says Russian state media reporter

A view shows military vehicles destroyed during the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the town of Rubizhne in Luhansk region, Ukraine, June 1, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo

LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) – A Russian general has been killed in eastern Ukraine, a Russian state media journalist said on Sunday, adding to the string of high-level military casualties Moscow has suffered.

The report, published by state TV reporter Alexander Sladkov on messaging app Telegram, did not say exactly when and where Major General Roman Kutuzov was killed.

There was no immediate comment from the Russian Defense Ministry.

Russian forces have stepped up attacks to capture Sievierodonetsk, a key city in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region that Moscow is targeting after failing to take the capital Kyiv earlier in the war.

Russia already classifies military deaths as a state secret in peacetime and has not updated its official death toll in Ukraine since March 25, when it said 1,351 Russian soldiers had been killed since its military campaign began on February 24.

Russia says it is conducting a “special military operation” aimed at demilitarizing Ukraine and ridding it of nationalists who threaten the Russian-speaking population. Ukraine and Western countries reject Russia’s claims as a pretext for an invasion.

The British Ministry of Defense said on Monday that Russia appears to have suffered significant casualties among middle and junior officers in Ukraine. Continue reading

Reuters reporting; Adaptation by Guy Faulconbridge and Nick Zieminski

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