Pictures have emerged of the reported funeral of Lt Col Alexander Kornik in Yekaterinburg, Russia
(Picture: social media/e2w)Russia has reportedly lost another colonel in Ukraine after his regiment was hit constructing a pontoon bridge in Chernihiv region.
Lt Col Alexander Kornik, 39, was reported to have died alongside eight soldiers of his regiment with 17 more injured.
Six bodies of dead servicemen could not be removed from the water, and were carried away by the current on 27 March, said senior Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsymbalyuk.
However, separate accounts give the date of his death as 2 March and 15 March.
Pictures appear to show a funeral service held for him in Russian city Yekaterinburg where he was given full military honours.
Despite this, Russia has not officially announced his death in common with many soldiers killed in Ukraine.
The colonel was Chief of Staff of the 40th Engineer Regiment, say reports.
The Russian troops were killed seeking to build the pontoon over the Desna River.
Ukrainian sources say that five years ago he was barred from entry to the country and found carrying classified documents seen as military training manuals.
They included blasting and de-mining instructions and guides on installing heavy machine guns on vehicles, as well as the construction of fortifications and defensive structures.
He was accused at the time of supervising the training of gangs in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
The news comes a day after the Standard reported how Mr Putin’s regime had lost even more colonels than previously revealed.
Among the latest military setbacks for Russia was death of Lt-Col Dmitry Dormidontov, commander of a rocket artillery division, whose funeral was held on Wednesday, according to Russian sources.
Another loss was Lt-Col Igor Zharov who was buried in Kirzhach town, Vladimir region.
The latest Russian military loss comes after the head of Britain’s GCHQ spy listening centre, Sir Jeremy Fleming, said Mr Putin had “massively misjudged” the situation in Ukraine, accusing him of a “strategic miscalculation” amid fierce Ukrainian resistance.
