Reports say Kyiv attacked the position in Russian-controlled east shortly after it was visited by Russian military chief Gerasimov
2 May 2022, 11:38 am
Reports from Ukraine Sunday and Monday indicated that a Russian
general and some 200 soldiers were killed in an attack launched by Ukrainian
forces on Saturday evening in the Russian-controlled city of Izium.
The attack may have been targeting the Russian military chief
Gen. Valery Gerasimov, who had left the location just prior to the attack.
A senior Ukrainian official and two US officials confirmed the
details to The New York Times.
Russia
has not yet confirmed the death of Maj. Gen. Andrei Simonov, who was identified
by reports as the general killed in the attack.
According to the Times, Gerasimov visited risky front-line
positions in eastern Ukraine last week in an effort to aid Russia’s floundering
offensive there. Kyiv learned of his visit and launched the strike on a
position he had visited, a school in Izium, but was too late to hit him.
The attack highlighted the precarious state of the Russian
military offensive, with Moscow seemingly sending its highest-ranking uniformed
officer and a top ally of President Vladimir Putin to a dangerous spot.
Gerasimov is credited as being one of the three people — along with Putin and
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu — responsible for plotting the war’s
course from the beginning.
Several Russian generals
have been killed since Moscow launched the invasion of February 24, including
a top general killed during battle in March during a
similar trip to motivate troops.
Western analysts believe Russian forces are facing major
logistics and coordination obstacles while under continuous fire from Ukrainian
forces. The morale of Russian troops is seen as a problem by some analysts, who
have highlighted reports that the tens of thousands who had been deployed for
weeks on the border may have only found out they were being sent to war at the
last moment.
Izium, which lies 120 kilometers southeast of Kharkhiv, has
become a base of operations for Russian forces as they attempt to push deeper
into the area known as the Donbas toward the city of Slovyansk. The shift came
after a fierce defense by Ukrainian forces thwarted Russia’s attempt to take
Ukraine’s capital early in the war.
Moscow now says its focus is the Donbas, the mostly
Russian-speaking industrial region in eastern Ukraine that has been beset by
separatist conflict since 2014.
The war has spread devastation around Ukraine, leaving thousands
of civilians dead and pushing millions to flee the country. It has pushed up
food and energy prices worldwide and upended the post-Cold War security balance
in Europe.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/russian-general-200-soldiers-said-killed-in-ukrainian-military-strike/
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