Ukrainian officials say their forces killed the Russian Major General Andrey Kolesnikov, the third of his rank to die since the invasion began.
Ukrainian officials say their forces killed the Russian Major General Andrey Kolesnikov, the third of his rank to die since the invasion began.
Wester officials have confirmed all three deaths of the generals, the equivalent of a US brigadier general. Ukraine did not release details about his death. Casualties among such high ranking officers suggests Russia is taking greater than usual risks to push stalled forces forward.
The country repositioned its weary forces in the north of Ukraine, causing Western officials to speculate it’s planning a renewed attack on Kyiv. In other parts of the country, Russia’s military struggled to maintain control of territory it narrowly captured.
In the port city of Melitopol, Russian forces kidnapped the mayor who refused to cooperate with them and defiantly flew a Ukrainian flag in his office. The mayor was reportedly taken away with a plastic bag over his head.
In Moscow, the Kremlin began moving more forces toward it western border. Another sign the invasion is not going as Russia hoped, they have also been recruiting Syrians with experience in urban combat to fight in Ukraine. According to the defense minister, over 16,000 volunteers from the Middle East have asked to fight on behalf of Moscow-backed separatists.