Russia suffers first confirmed death of general in Ukraine this year, MOD says

The Ministry of Defence has reported the first confirmed death of a Russian general in Ukraine in 2023.

The latest intelligence update from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) said General-Major Sergei Goryachev was "almost certainly" killed in a strike on a command post on or around Monday 12 June, in the south of Ukraine.

The MOD said there is a "realistic possibility" he was the acting commander of 35th Combined Arms Army (35 CAA) at the time of his death.

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The Ministry of Defence described the CAA's war record as "difficult and controversial", noting that elements of the Army were present during the "massacre of civilians" at Bucha, and the force was "largely wiped out" near Izium.

His death, defence analyst Professor Michael Clarke said, "is the latest of at least eight generals that we know of, and possibly 15 by some counts, that may have been killed in this, one way or another.

"That is fairly astonishing, and it reflects two things. One is that the Ukrainians have now got equipment that can strike so far behind the lines that it’s getting in the rear area headquarters, not just forward headquarters.

"Secondly, that Russian generals are having to come quite close to the frontlines because of the inflexibility of the way the Russian command system works," he said.

"When things are going wrong, a general goes right to the front to kick backsides, literally to gear everybody up, to find out what's gone wrong, because they don't trust the reporting system up and down.

"Firstly, these people shouldn't be so far forward, secondly, they've come far forward enough to be struck by Himars, early on, and now by Storm Shadow. It's not a good look when a country, an army loses a good handful of generals."

He added: "They don't just lose the generals, they lose the planning and the staff and the momentum which they may have created."

It comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin claims the long-anticipated Ukrainian counter-offensive is failing, with Kyiv suffering "catastrophic" losses.

Mr Putin told a meeting of war correspondents: "The enemy has no success in any of the sections, they had heavy losses, all their losses are close to the estimate of what is called catastrophic in terms of personnel."

This information shared by the president has not been verified, with Ukraine denying that its counter-offensive has failed.