July 12 (UPI) — A Russian general was killed Monday in a long-range missile strike against a hotel that was converted into a military headquarters by Russian occupation forces near the city of Berdyansk, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials.
Russian and Ukrainian officials have confirmed Lt. Gen. Oleg Tsokov was killed in a strike on the makeshift headquarters in the southern city.
Russian TV host Olga Skabeyeva said Tsokov was killed by a British-supplied Storm Shadow missile.
Former Russian military commander Andrei Gurulyov, who is a member of the Russian State Duma’s Defense Commitee, confirmed the death on a political talk show on Tuesday.
“This man deserves enormous respect, he had unimaginable authority in the armed forces,” the former deputy commander of the Russian military’s Southern District said of Tsokov.
Gurulyov also confirmed that Tsokov was previously wounded in Ukraine in September.
“He was really badly wounded last year, he was barely pulled out and, in fact, did not have to return to the front due to his health condition,” Gurulyov said.
In a Telegram post, Petro Andryushchenko, an aide to the exiled Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol, said Tsokov was killed in strike on the hotel.
“It was known for some time that the enemy’s military leadership was living there,” Andryushchenko said.
Western intelligence agencies have estimated that more than 20 Russian generals have been killed since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
On Monday, a former Russian submarine commander, Stanislav Rzhitsky, was killed while jogging in a park in the Russian city of Krasnodar.
Russian media reported that Rzhitsky may have been tracked via data from the Strava app, which is used by runners to track their progress.
The Ukranian government did not claim responsibility for Rzhitsky’s death but released a highly detailed account of how the former commander was killed.
“The submariner was jogging in the ’30th Anniversary of Victory’ park in Krasnodar. Around 6 a.m., he was shot seven times with a Makarov pistol. As a result of the gunshot wound, Rzhitsky died on the spot,” Ukrainian Defense Intelligence said in a Telegram post.
