Ukrainian officials say that another Russian commander has died in the fighting, which they say will be the fifth Russian general to be killed since the February 24 invasion.
General Oleg Mityaev, of Russia’s 150th Motorized Rifle Division, and members of his unit were killed by Ukrainian forces near Mariupol last week, according to a Telegram The post was shared by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister, on Tuesday.
The Russian Defense Ministry and Russian state media have not made any statements about his death.
Aleksei Arestovich, an adviser to the head of the presidential office, said Mityaev was part of a small group sent to Mariupol.
Mityaev, he said, “most likely showed, for example, how to fight. Because his soldiers refused to fight.
“Typically, shoguns are only killed in close combat if they come to command in person on the spot.”
CNN was unable to independently verify Ukraine’s claims.
The official Facebook page of the Strategic Communications Department of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU StratCom) also confirmed Mityaev’s death through a Facebook post.
In 2016, Mityaev was appointed commander of Russia’s 201st military base in Tajikistan, according to Russian state media.
Military Base 201 is Russia’s largest military facility located outside its borders. Most recently, he was stationed as deputy commander of the Russian military group at Hmeimim Air Base in Syria, according to Russian state media.
The Azov Battalion, a radical nationalist militia that has been integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces, was the first to share a photo of the General’s body on their Telegram account.
