Top Russian officer reported killed in Ukraine counteroffensive

A top Russian officer has been reported killed in a Ukrainian missile strike during Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russian forces, a Russian-backed official in Ukraine has said, offering his condolences.

A top Russian officer has been reported killed in a Ukrainian missile strike during Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russian forces, a Russian-backed official in Ukraine has said, offering his condolences.

Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in a part of the southern Zaporizhia region under Moscow’s control, said on Tuesday that Russian Major-General Sergei Goryachev, Chief of Staff of Russia’s 35th Army, had been killed a day earlier on the Zaporizhia front where Ukrainian forces have been retaking some territory.

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, according to the Reuters news agency.