Fifth Russian General Killed After Kherson Command Post Destroyed, Officials Say

Another Russian general has been killed in Ukraine, marking the fifth since the conflict started last month. 

In a tweet shared today (19 March), General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Lieutenant-General Andrey Mordvichev had been killed ‘as a result of inflicting fire damage on the enemy’.

The news was also discussed by Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych at a briefing on Friday (18 March), reports local publication Interfax-Ukraine. 

‘I want to inform you that the airfield in Chornobayivka (Kherson region), which the Russians use as their command post and the place of collection of aircraft, again pleased us with the result,’ he said. 

‘The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine again struck and, according to preliminary data, destroyed the forward command post of the 8th army of the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation. 

‘This is exactly the direction that was responsible for ORDLO [the temporarily uncontrolled territories of Luhansk and Donetsk regions]... According to preliminary data, the commander of this army died.’

Russian officials are yet to confirm the Lieutenant-General’s death, just as it has downplayed the scale of losses as a result of Vladimir Putin’s war. 

Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky was the first high-ranking Russian officer to have died in action, followed by Vitaly Gerasimov, Andrey Kolesnikov, Oleg Mityaev and now Mordvichev.

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera spoke earlier this month about how ‘remarkable Ukrainian resistance’ had ‘shocked Russian commanders’, according to Western officials, and this is ‘having a psychological impact on Russian troops because of the ferocity of the fight’.

Corera wrote on Twitter, ‘Russian commanders have been killed after they felt they had to move closer to the front lines, western officials say. Deputy Commander of the 41st combined arms Army killed by sniper fire. A divisional commander and a regimental commander also killed.’

The reporter added that ‘Russian commanders are moving further forward to get more control and impetus behind operations,’ but this hasn’t gone to plan in some cases. Western officials, said Corera, described how ‘commanders are trying to impose their own personality on the battlefield’ but this is ‘placing them at greater risk’.

Kherson became the first major city to be taken over by Russian forces, with Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov saying that the Black Sea port city was under ‘complete control’ of Putin’s troops at the start of March. 

However, Ukrainian forces have continued to fight back in order to reclaim the region, having attacked the Russian base near Kherson Airport numerous times this week. 

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