Ukrainian officials claimed to have killed another Russian general, the fourth since the conflict began in late February.
On Wednesday, Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, announced in a post on Telegram that Russian Maj. Gen. Oleg Mityaev was killed on Tuesday during an attack on the city of Mariupol.
“Yesterday, a regiment of the National Guard in the besieged Mariupol eliminated the general of the occupying troops. According to preliminary information, this is Major General Oleg Mityaev, commander of the 150th motorized rifle division, which understands the active participation in the storming of Mariupol. This is the fourth military general of the Russian troops liquidated by the Ukrainian army,” Gerashchenko wrote.
“Even in the besieged Mariupol, in extremely difficult conditions, our soldiers continue to inflict enormous damage on the enemy army, destroying the equipment, personnel and command of the Russian occupying forces,” he continued. “Glory to our heroes!”
The Ukrainian official also posted a photo of what he claims is Mityaev’s body. The image has not been verified.
The Ukrainian military previously announced that its forces killed a Russian general, identified as Maj. Gen. Andriy Kolesnikov, who was the commander of Russia’s 29th Combined Arms Army, which is a component of Russia’s Eastern Military District.
Ukrainian forces also reportedly killed Russian Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, according to a Russian social media post by a Russian military officer group member. Sukhovetsky was the head of the 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division, a unit of the Russian military’s highly regarded paratroop forces.
Additionally, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate said that Ukrainian forces killed Russian Maj. Gen. Vitaliy Gerasimova, along with several other senior Russian army officers, in fighting near the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Gerasimova was the chief of staff and first deputy commander of the Russian military’s 41st Combined Arms Army.
Mariupol has been hammered by Russian attacks in recent days, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, said Russia is holding more than 400,000 Ukrainians hostage in the city.
“Russia continues holding hostage over 400.000 people in Mariupol, blocks humanitarian aid and evacuation,” he tweeted last week. “Indiscriminate shelling continues. Almost 3.000 newborn babies lack medicine and food. I urge the world to act! Force Russia to stop its barbaric war on civilians and babies!”
Ukrainian officials also said Russia “deliberately bombed” a maternity and children’s hospital in the city, adding that “the destruction is enormous.”
“Mariupol. Direct strike of Russian troops at the maternity hospital. People, children are under the wreckage,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted following the attack. “Atrocity! How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror? Close the sky right now! Stop the killings! You have power but you seem to be losing humanity.”
