One of Vladimir Putin ’s most senior paratroopers was gunned down by a sniper during a special operation in Ukraine, it has been claimed.
Major-General Andrey Sukhovetsky, 47, was the deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District.
There has been no official announcement over his death but a military source confirmed: “This is true. Sniper.”
His funeral back in Russia is scheduled for Saturday.
Russia has admitted to 498 deaths in the Ukraine “special military operation” - but the figure is almost certainly higher.
He is the most senior known casualty, and a blow to Putin in another sign his war effort is not going to plan.
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Sukhovetsky was a highly respected paratrooper, famed for leading training missions in “hostile territory”.
It is not confirmed where he died but suspected it during in attempt to land in Hostomel.
On the first day of the war, an assault by airborne forces just outside Kyiv was met with strong resistance from the Ukrainians.
Defenders shot down a number of the Mi-8 troop-carrying helicopters during the assault.
Sergey Chipilyov, of the All-Russian Union Airborne Forces Union of Russian Paratroopers, posted: "With great pain, we received the tragic news about the death of our friend, Major-General Andrey Aleksandrovich Sukhovetsky, in Ukraine during a special operation.
“We express our deepest condolences to his family.”
Until 2021, he headed the Novorossiysk 7th Guards Airborne Assault Mountain Division, which specialised in combat in mountainous areas.
It comes as French President Emmanuel Macron said he feared the invasion would get worse on major cities amid more indiscriminate bombing.
The warning came during a day of continued attacks on cities including Kyiv and Kharkiv, which have suffered intense damage.
Attempts to seize both cities have failed so Kremlin forces have instead resorted to heavy bombing, causing thousands of civilian casualties.
The city of Kherson has been taken by Russian troops but elsewhere the invaders have met with fierce Ukraine resistance.
Negotiations began between the Russian and Ukrainian sides at about 3pm GMT - shortly before news broke of an airstrike on Chernihiv which killed 22 civilians.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that Western powers were preparing for a wider war, just the day after he issued a chilling threat that WW3 would be ' nuclear and destructive'.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia would pay for the damage caused:
"We will restore every house, every street, every city and we say to Russia: learn the word of reparations and contributions.
"You will reimburse us for everything you did against our state, against every Ukrainian in full."
