Vitaly Gerasimov: A second Russian general was killed, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense | Ukraine

Ukrainian intelligence said that a Russian general was killed in the fighting around Kharkiv, which would make him the second general lost by the Russian army. Ukraine In a week.

The intelligence arm of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, chief of staff of the 41st Army, was killed outside the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, along with other senior officers.

The ministry also broadcast what it claimed was a conversation between two Russian FSB officers discussing the death and complaining that their secure communications were no longer operating inside Ukraine.

Investigative press agency Bellingcat said it confirmed Gerasimov’s death from a Russian source. Its CEO, Christo Grosev, said they also recognized the senior FSB officer in the intercepted conversation.

Gerasimov participated in the Second Chechen War, the Russian military operation in Syria, the annexation of Crimea, and received medals from those campaigns.

If confirmed, Gerasimov would be the second Russian general from the 41st Army to die within a week in Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. At the beginning of March, the Russian media confirmed the killing of its deputy commander, Major General Andrei Sokhovitsky.

The loss of senior officers came at a time when much of Putin’s invasion forces were bogged down by logistical problems, poor morale, and the Ukrainian resistance. The failure of the encrypted communications system could be another severe blow.

On the call, you hear a Ukraine-based FSB officer asking his boss if he can talk through the secure Era system. Grosev said on Twitter. [Russia’s defence ministry] It was introduced in 2021 with great fanfare. It’s guaranteed [to] Work “in all conditions”.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the war was a “nightmare” for Russia and praised the efforts of the Ukrainian resistance.

His comments came after Linda Thomas Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, accused Vladimir Putin of developing a plan to “violate Ukraine” by bombing cities.