Two Russian colonels have been killed this week in the invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv officials have claimed.
Colonel Alexei Sharov and Colonel Ruslan Gashiyatullin are the latest high-ranking Russian officials Ukraine says it has killed.
Shavrov and Gashiyatullin are said to have died fighting Ukrainian soldiers who are resisting Putin’s forces in the besieged coastal city of Mariupol - and are the fifth and sixth Russian colonels said to have died since Russia began its “special operation”.
Mariupol has been the centre of fierce fighting after an estimated 80 per cent of its infrastructure has now been decimated, as Russian forces try to pound the city into submission.
Shavrov was the commander of the 810th Guards Separate Order of Zhukov Brigade, an elite branch of the Russian Marines stationed in Sevastopol, Crimea.
Gashiyatullin was the commander of the motorized rifle battalion and from the Kurgan region based in western Russia. The colonels are the 15th and 16th top military commanders to be killed as the Kremlin moved into the second month of its invasion.
Russia faces the greatest loss of high-ranking military personnel since the Second World War, according to Foreign Policy magazine.
Although Russia has faced significant losses of senior military figures, the exact numbers of dead Russian troops is disputed. Nato claims 15,000 have been killed in the first month of the war.
Both Shavrov and Gashiyatullin’s deaths were first reported by Ukrainian officer Anatoliy Stefan writing on social media.
Konrad Muzyka, director of the Poland-based Rochan consultancy, told Reuters the Ukrainian claims of Russian high-ranking casualties were plausible, but difficult to verify. He said that the true figure was probably smaller.
“Even if we are talking about two generals, that’s a big deal,” he said. “We’re not only talking about generals, we’re also talking about colonels who are, of course, also really high in the organisation.”
A senior Nato military officer has claimed that Russia has suffered as many as 40,000 casualties in the first month of fighting in Ukraine with the estimate based on information provided by Kyiv, hints given by Russia and data acquired through open-source intelligence, the officer said.
The news comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to Nato leaders on Thursday to increase military support for his country against Russian forces that he warned would next target alliance members in eastern Europe including Poland.
Addressing a Nato summit in Brussels, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine needed fighter jets, tanks, anti-ship weapons and improved air defence to repel Russian troops as the war enters its second month.
“I am sure you understand that Russia has no intention of stopping in Ukraine,” Mr Zelensky said in a video address that was released by the Ukrainian presidency.
“It wants to go further. Against eastern members of Nato. The Baltic states. Poland for sure.”
