Army Chief Of Staff Major General Roman Kutuzov Killed In An Ambush In Donbas, President Putin Has Lost 11 Generals In Ukraine

President Putin with a number of top Russian military officials. (Wikimedia Commons/Presidential Press and Information Office)

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin received yet another bad news, when another of his military generals was killed in fighting in Ukraine, adding to the long number of the country's top military officials who died.

According to the Daily Mail, June 6, Chief of Staff of the 29th Joint Army Major General Roman Kutuzov was reportedly killed after his vehicle was ambushed during the battle in Donbas.

Previously, In 2020, Major General Roman Kutuzov was the head of the headquarters for the joint arms formation of the vast Eastern Military District of Russia.

Separately, Russian sources said Major General Roman Kutuzov was killed in the residential area of Nikolaevka, in the Popasnyansky district of the Luhansk People's Republic, close to the front line.

The death of Major General Kutuzov brings the total number of Russian generals killed during the invasion of Ukraine to 11 people. The previous general killed was Kanamat 'Flop Gun' Botashev (63).

He is a famous 'retired pilot' as a Sukhoi Su-25 aviator, previously retiring from President Putin's army. He was reportedly shot down by a Ukrainian Stinger missile.

President Putin during a visit to his troops. (Wikimedia Commons/Presidential Press and Information Office)

Apart from generals, Russia has so far lost 49 Colonels since its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The latest is Lt. Col. Zaur Dimayev, deputy commander of the 4th battalion of the special forces regiment Akhmat Kadyrov. He is a close associate of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

It is known, there are unconfirmed claims that Western countries are helping Ukraine to target high-ranking Russian officers.

Not only losing generals because they were killed, Russia also lost a number of generals due to being sacked by President Putin, related to the lack of smooth invasion of Ukraine so far.

As previously reported, President Vladimir Putin was forced to fire some of Russia's most experienced and senior military generals, in a sign of rising tensions and internal disharmony over his war tactics.

Russian Army figures have been made scapegoats for the Kremlin's faltering mission as its war tactics in Ukraine have not gone smoothly, according to British intelligence.

"In recent weeks, Russia has sacked senior commanders who were deemed underperformers during the early stages of the invasion of Ukraine," the Defense Ministry said, according to The National News.

"The culture of cover-ups and scapegoating may be prevalent in Russia's military and security systems. Many of the officials involved in the invasion of Ukraine may be further disturbed by attempts to avoid personal blame for Russia's operational setbacks."