A Russian commander has been killed by Ukrainian troops during his country's invasion of their neighbours in a major setback for Vladimir Putin's forces.
Guard Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Agarkov died alongside fellow paratrooper colonel Konstantin Zizevsky according an announcement on the personal instagram page of Mikhail Vedernikov, the governor of the Pskov Region.
Russian Mikhail Vedernikov said the "paratrooper officers were killed" as they "honourably fulfilled their duty, valiantly and courageously defending the security of our country".
Agarkov had served as chief of staff of the 56th ODSHB in Kamyshin before the unit was deployed to the Crimea.
He was serving as commander of the 33rd motorised rifle regiment during what Russian is calling a "special operation" in Ukraine.
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Zizevsky was commander of the 247th Guards Airborne Assault Regiment and was killed in the south of Ukraine.
On Tuesday the Russian operation suffered another major blow when Major General Vitaly Gerasimov was killed.
Ukrainian commandos claim to have killed the general near besieged Kharkiv.
The Chief Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine's defence ministry said in a statement Major General Vitaly Gerasimov was killed on Monday, along with several other officers.
The Kremlin has not commented on the reports.
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Gerasimov, first deputy commander of Russia's 41st army, is the second of Putin’s generals to die in the invasion after Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky was taken out by a sniper.
Nine of Putin’s military commanders have been wiped out so far in Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine, leaked reports suggest.
The commanders are among the 12,000 Russian troops Ukraine now claims it has killed.
It comes as one Kremlin official reportedly described the campaign to subdue the nation as a "clusterf***".
The statement also suggested there were “significant problems” with communication in the Russian army.
Putin previously confirmed the death of Sukhovetsky, the commanding general of the Russian 7th Airborne Division and a deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army, during a speech.
Both Safronov and Glebov were killed when Ukrainian forces recaptured the city of Chuhuiv.
Ukraine says its forces have killed more than 12,000 Russian troops since the start of the deadly invasion on February 24 while Moscow has so far confirmed about 500 losses.
Prior to their deaths, Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky was killed by a Ukrainian sniper during the fighting for Hostomel Airfield.
Neither side has confirmed Ukrainian losses.
