The Russian forces have apparently lost their second general in their attack on Ukraine.
The 44-year-old Major General Vitali Gerasimov - not to be confused with Russia's Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov - was killed near Kharkiv.
He was most recently Chief of Staff of the 41st Russian Army.
The Ukrainian military intelligence service initially reported Gerasimov's death.
The head of the research portal “Bellincat”, Christo Grosew, shared during the night.
with the fact that the information was checked with the help of a Russian source.
The death has not yet been confirmed from Moscow.
Gerasimov was an experienced and highly decorated senior military man.
He has taken part in most of the Russian military operations since the beginning of the millennium, including the second Chechen war, the Syrian civil war and the annexation of Crimea, for which he received a special medal.
On February 28, Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky, commander of the Russian 7th Airborne Division, was shot dead by a Ukrainian sniper near Mariupol.
He too was a highly decorated military man.
According to Bellingcat, the speedy verification of Gerasimov's death was made possible by a communications breakdown.
Accordingly, the informing spy of the Russian secret service FSB brought the message to Moscow with the help of a local Ukrainian SIM card.
The crypto telephone system ESA, which was actually intended for this purpose, did not work in Kharkiv.
The Russian army had previously destroyed many of the 3G masts required for its operation.