A second Russian general has been killed in fighting in Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian military intelligence agency.
Maj Gen Vitaly Gerasimov, 45, who had served with Russian forces in Syria and Chechnya and had taken part in the seizure of Crimea in 2014, was killed in fighting around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, it said.
It was not possible to confirm the death independently. Russia has not commented.
Russian has admitted that 498 of its military have been killed in Ukraine, but the real figure is believed to be significantly higher, with Ukraine claiming it is more than 11,000.
The Russian president has called on the country’s “mothers, wives, sisters, brides and girlfriends of our soldiers and officers” to show pride in those fighting in his invasion.
Troops acknowledged as having been killed - a fraction of the real total - are portrayed as national heroes.
Another Russian general was killed earlier in the fighting. A local officers' organisation in Russia confirmed the death in Ukraine of Maj Gen Andrei Sukhovetsky, the commanding general of the Russian 7th Airborne Division.
Sukhovetsky also took part in Russia's military campaign in Syria.
A divisional commander and a regimental commander are also said to have been killed.
Russian commanders are reported to have come more frequently to the frontline because of frustration at the slow pace of the advance of ground troops.
