Russia's General-Major Sergei Goryachev, the chief of staff of the 35th Combined Arms Army (35 CAA), was "almost certainly" killed in a strike on a command post in Ukraine's south on or around June 12, reported the U.K. Defense Ministry.
Goryachev is the first Russian general whose death in Ukraine has been confirmed since the beginning of 2023, the ministry wrote in its latest intelligence update.
"With 35 CAA's nominated commander, General-Lieutenant Alexandr Sanchik, reported to be filling a gap in a higher HQ, there is a realistic possibility that Goryachev was the acting army commander at the time of his death," reads the report.
The ministry reminded that soldiers of the 35th Combined Arms Army had been stationed in Bucha during the massacre of civilians. In June 2022, this formation was largely destroyed near Izium, Kharkiv Oblast.
According to the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, Russia has lost 218,500 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24 last year.
Francis Farrell
