(PatriotWise.com) — A Russian-installed official in Ukraine said a top Russian officer was killed in a Ukrainian missile strike in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia on Monday, Reuters reported.
According to Vladimir Rogov, an official in Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia, Major-General Sergei Goryachev, the chief of staff for Russia’s 35th Army, was killed on Monday in a missile strike as Ukrainian forces retook some territory in the region.
In a Telegram post on Tuesday, Rogov described the 52-year-old decorated officer as “one of the brightest and most effective military commanders” in the Russian army.
Goryachev fought in the Second Chechen War and led Russian forces in the breakaway region of Transdniestria in Moldova.
News of Goryachev’s death was first reported by Russian war blogger Voenkor Z. However, his death has not been confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry.
On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin said he might order Russian troops to seize more territory in Ukraine as a way to protect Russian territory along Ukraine’s border.
While speaking at an open meeting with military reporters and bloggers after Kyiv claimed to have recaptured some villages in Russian-controlled regions, Putin asserted that Ukraine’s losses in its counter-offensive have been “catastrophic.”
When discussing Ukraine’s alleged incursions into Russia, Putin said he was considering creating a “sanitary zone” within Ukrainian territory to make it impossible for Ukraine to launch attacks on Russian soil.
While the Russian president said he was not considering another troop mobilization, he would not rule it out.
Putin also repeated his accusation that Ukraine was behind the collapse of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River last week.
Calling Ukraine’s counteroffensive unsuccessful, Putin claimed that the Ukrainian military had lost over 360 armored vehicles and 160 tanks, while Russian forces only lost 54 tanks.
These claims, however, could not be verified.
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