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General who commanded Russian forces in Ukraine dies in Moscow

by Elsa Court and The Kyiv Independent news desk August 16, 2023 9:37 PM 1 min read
This audio is created with AI assistance

Russian Colonel-General Gennady Zhidko died in Moscow "after a long illness," Governor of Khabarovsk Mikhail Degtyarev said on Aug. 16. The commander was 57 years old.

Zhidko led Russian troops in Ukraine for a number of months in the spring and summer of 2022. In October 2022, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu officially announced that General Sergei Surovikin had taken over Zhidko's position.

Zhidko was the former commander of the Eastern Military District and Russia’s deputy defense minister for military and political affairs. He was previously the chief of staff of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria.

In March 2022, Zhidko was included in a U.S. sanctions list as one of 11 key military leaders in of the Russian armed forces.

Military intelligence: Surovikin effectively removed from position but his fate undecided
Army General Sergey Surovikin, the deputy commander of the Russian invasion forces in Ukraine, was effectively removed from position but his fate remains undecided, Ukraine’s military intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov said on July 18.

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