Russian Major General Andrei Kolesnikov killed in war; Ukraine military confirms death

In a major blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's plan to invade Ukraine, the country has lost its topmost military official during the war in Ukraine. According to multiple media reports, Russian Major General Andrei Kolesnikov, who was believed to be the commander of the 29th Combined Arms troop, was killed in the Ukrainian territory on Friday. Notably, this was the third such blow that hit Putin's army within two weeks of the invasion.

Hours after the news was broken by several Ukrainian media outlets, it was later confirmed by Ukraine's military on Twitter.

"The Russian invaders continue to lose their officers in the war against Ukraine," read the tweet by Ukraine's armed forces as it announced the general's purported death.

While speaking to British outlet Mirror, a Western official told on the condition of anonymity that the top military official killed today was responsible for multiple anti-Ukrainian operations. It is worth mentioning Kolesnikov’s death follows the killing of Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, chief of staff of the 41st Army.

As per Ukrainian Army, he was killed outside Kharkiv alongside senior officers, and Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky. Notably, the death of Sukhovetsky was also mentioned by Putin in his speech on March 3 - the eighth day of the attack. He was the first general to be killed by a sniper.

Around 2,000-4,000 Russian forces killed in Ukraine, says US General

Meanwhile, the US Defense Department informed the legislators that around 2,000-4,000 Russian soldiers died since Moscow announced a full-fledged war against Ukraine. According to a report by The Washington Post, Lieutenant General Scott D. Berrier, Director of the Defence Intelligence Agency, claimed that the Russian forces have suffered heavy damages in the ongoing conflict between the two nations.

However, Lt Gen Berrier said that he had low confidence in the figures as the data were mainly based on some "intelligence sources" as well as "open sources". 

As per the media report, the US General’s reference to open source data likely refers to estimates made public by credible outside groups monitoring the conflict. Meanwhile, he affirmed that the Ukrainian forces and the civilians did a courageous job by preventing the Russian troops from entering the national capital Kyiv with limited resources. 

Image: Twitter/@ArmedForcesUkr/AP