Two Generals And One Colonel Killed In Three Days, President Zelensky Says The Number Of Russian Troops That Have Fallen Through 31,000 Personnel

President Putin flanked by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (left) and Chief of the Russian General Staff of the Military General Valery Gerasimov. (Wikimedia Commons/Presidential Press and Information Office)

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin received another unpleasant news, when two generals and one senior colonel were reported dead in the past three days, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky put the number of Russian soldiers killed at 31,000.

President Zelenskyy on Tuesday claimed Russia had lost more than 31,000 troops since launching its invasion in February.

"Russia has paid for this senseless war against Ukraine with nearly 300 lives of their soldiers every day," he said in his daily speech on social media.

"The day will come for Russia when the amount of losses will exceed the permissible limit even for Russia," he stressed.

President Zelensky added that the situation in the eastern Donbas region had not seen a significant change in the previous 24 hours, when Ukrainian troops tried to defend the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.

Separately, Russia suffered the loss of its 50th colonel in the war in Ukraine. He is Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Nigmatulin, artillery commander and father of three from Yekaterinburg, as reported by The Sun.

Nigmatullin, believed to be 46 years old, was killed on May 31, 2022 but his loss to Russian troops was only revealed yesterday. His death was confirmed by his family, however the exact circumstances of how he died have not been revealed.

Russia is known to lose almost a colonel every two days in the bloody conflict in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia has classified military deaths as a state secret, even in peacetime.

On Monday, Lieutenant General Roman Berdnikov was said to have died in the Donbas attack that killed Major General Roman Kutuzov the day before. In total, Vladimir Putin has now lost 12 generals during the war, reports the Daily Mail.

Russia has not updated its official death toll in Ukraine since March 25, when it said 1,351 Russian soldiers had died since the start of the invasion on February 24.