Vladimir Putin has now lost 100 colonels in the war in Ukraine as Russians army is decimated.
Recently emerged footage of the grief-stricken family of Lieutenant Colonel Vitaly Tsikul at his funeral.
Tsikul, 36, is believed to have been the 100th colonel killed when serving as part of the Russian 90th Tank Division.
A soldier at the funeral, named Viktor, said: “He was our commander. I did not hear a single bad word from him. He was an officer who rallied his troops."
His funeral passed with full military honours at an Orthodox Church in Chebarkul in the Urals.
Tsikul's death comes as speculation on the true numbers of Russian troops killed since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine continues.
It appears the war has not gone as well as Putin expected and the UK Ministry of Defence said he is "highly likely" to have sacked six of his generals for poor performance.
Other recent deaths include Lieutenant Colonel Nikolay Gorban, 36, a senior commander in Russia's elite special forces.
A US Pentagon official said on Monday that around 70,000 to 80,000 troops have been killed or wounded since the invasion began.
Current Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl explained their assessment of the situation put 42,200 of those troops as killed.
He said: "After all, more than 40 million Ukrainians are fighting. The stakes are existential for them.
"They are fighting for the survival of their country. I'll also say the Russians are taking a tremendous number of casualties on the other side of the equation."
"There's a lot of fog in war but, you know, I think it's safe to suggest that the Russians have probably taken 70 [thousand] or 80,000 casualties in less than six months."
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in April that Russia was indeed suffering "significant" losses in the campaign.
Kahl added: "That [Russian casualty] number might be a little lower, a little higher, but I think that's kind of in the ballpark, which is pretty remarkable considering that the Russians have achieved none of Vladimir Putin's objectives at the beginning of the war."
Russian officials are believed to understate the number of troops killed and have cracked down on what they see as the reporting of 'misinformation' in the country.
Putin signed into law legislation that means people can get up to 15 years in jail for spreading 'fake' information.
Some believe that the true number of troops killed may cause unrest, though support for the war within Russia remains high as the Kremlin continues to brand it a 'special operation.
It falsely claims Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in charge of a 'Nazi' state and that Russia is simply protecting its own brders.
