The Ukrainian military announced on Friday that its forces had killed a third Russian general so far since the start of their invasion of Ukraine began. The Russian officer, identified as Maj. Gen. Andriy Kolesnikov, was the commander of Russia’s 29th Combined Arms Army.
“The Russian occupiers continue to lose their officers in the war against Ukraine,” the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a translated tweet. “The Armed Forces managed to eliminate Major General Andriy Kolesnikov, the commander of the Eastern Military District.”
Kolesnikov commanded the 29th Combined Arms Army, which is a component of Russia’s Eastern Military District. Kolesnikov was not the commander of the Eastern Military District as a whole, as the Ukrainian military’s tweet claimed.
While the Ukrainian government has claimed to have killed Kolesnikov, his death hasn’t yet been confirmed.
“US CANNOT confirm death of Russian Maj Gen Andriy Kolesnikov after Ukraine’s military said the Russian cmdr was killed in battle: sr US official,” Foreign Policy reporter Jack Detsch tweeted Friday. “US knows that Russia has ‘senior leaders in the field’ in Ukraine, per official. Kolesnikov would be 3rd Russian general killed in 15 days.”
Last week, Ukrainian forces reportedly killed Russian Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky after 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.
Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate said late Monday night that Ukrainian forces killed a second Russian general, 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.
On Thursday, the Ukrainian military also claimed Ukrainian forces killed a Russian tank commander who was once personally recognized by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine’s defense intelligence office shared video on Thursday of a column of Russian tanks that was targeted by Ukrainian artillery units. In a translated statement, the office said, “The commander of the occupier’s regiment, Colonel [Andrei] Zakharov, was liquidated.”
“During the fighting in the Brovary district of Kyiv region, the battalion tactical group (BTGr) of the 6th Panzer Regiment (Chebarkul) of the 90th Panzer Division of the Central Command suffered significant losses in personnel and equipment,” the Ukrainian statement added.
Col. Zakharov was one of several Russian military officers honored by Putin during a May 17, 2016 ceremony at the Kremlin’s Hall of the Order of St. George. Zakharov was awarded the Order of Courage for his distinguished actions during Russian military operations in Syria.
In the Ukrainian military video, which was apparently taken by multiple drones, dozens of Russian tanks could be seen in a traffic jam along a highway in the Brovary district of Kyiv. Artillery strikes could be seen landing near the tanks as they rushed to leave the area. It was not immediately clear how many Russian troops and armored vehicles were destroyed in the artillery strikes.
