(Reuters) – A top Russian officer has been killed in a Ukrainian missile strike during Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russian forces, a Russian-backed official in Ukraine said on Tuesday, offering his condolences.
Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in part of the southern Zaporizhzhia region which is under Moscow’s control, said Major-General Sergei Goryachev, Chief of Staff of Russia’s 35th Army, had been killed on the Zaporizhzhia front on Monday where Ukrainian forces have been retaking some territory.
There was no immediate confirmation of the news from the Defence Ministry, which was first reported by “Voenkor Z,” a Russian war correspondent and blogger.
Rogov, writing on his official channel on the Telegram messaging application, said:
“The army has lost one of its brightest and most effective military commanders, who combined the highest professionalism with personal courage. Deepest and most sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased!”
Goryachev, 52, was a highly-decorated officer.
During his career, he fought in the Second Chechen War, commanded a tank brigade, oversaw a Russian military base in Tajikistan and led Russian forces in Moldova’s breakaway pro-Russian region of Transdniestria.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by William Maclean)
