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Russia Has Lost at Least 19 Generals Fighting Against Ukraine, Investigation Finds
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
Since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has lost at least 19 generals, according to an investigation by The Insider published on January 9, 2026.
The outlet compiled its list using publicly available information and media reports, noting that many of the deaths were not officially confirmed by the Russian government.
The Insider reports that the deaths occurred both on the battlefield and far from the front lines—in the form of missile strikes, sabotage operations, and car bombings on Russian territory. Some generals were killed during frontline operations, while others died as a result of internal attacks or explosions in Moscow and other Russian cities.
At least 7495 Russian officers have been eliminated in the Russian invasion of Ukraine since 24 February 2022.
— KIU ✪ Russian Officers killed in Ukraine 🇨🇿🇺🇦 (@KilledInUkraine) December 22, 2025
Weekly update: +80 newly registered.
Sources: public Russian obituaries and graves (see link in bio). pic.twitter.com/q1bpcgfpCC
Among the most notable early casualties was Major General Andrey Sukhovetsky, deputy commander of Russia’s 41st Combined Arms Army, who was shot by a sniper in northern Ukraine on February 28, 2022. His death marked the first confirmed loss of a Russian general during the war, officially acknowledged by Moscow.
Other high-ranking officers killed in the first year of the war include Major General Oleg Mityaev, reported dead during the battle for Mariupol, and Major General Vladimir Frolov, who died in March 2022, also during fighting in southern Ukraine.
Additional names include Major General Andrey Simonov, believed to have been killed near Izium by artillery fire, and Lieutenant General Roman Kutuzov, whose death was confirmed in June 2022 in the Luhansk region.
In 2023, Russian losses included Major General Sergey Goryachev, chief of staff of the 35th Army, who died in a missile strike on an army headquarters in southern Ukraine, and Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov, deputy commander of the Southern Military District, killed in Berdyansk.
By 2024, incidents had expanded to Russian territory. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Forces, died in a December 2024 explosion on Ryazansky Prospekt in Moscow. According to The Insider, Ukrainian authorities had recently named him in a case involving alleged use of chemical weapons.
Other generals, including Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik—deputy head of Russia’s General Staff Operations Directorate—were killed in car bombings within Russia. Moskalik died in April 2025 in Balashikha, near Moscow. Later that year, Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the General Staff’s Operational Training Directorate, was killed when his vehicle exploded in Moscow.
The Insider notes that not all deceased generals were active-duty members of the regular armed forces. Several had retired prior to the war and later joined volunteer or paramilitary units, including Wagner Group and “Storm Z” formations.
One such case was retired Major General Kanamat Botashev, who reportedly piloted a Su-25 aircraft as part of Wagner operations before being shot down in May 2022.
Major General Dmitry Ulyanov, also retired, died while leading a unit formed from mobilized reservists. Other deaths, such as that of Major General Pavel Klimenko, involved internal disciplinary controversies—he was accused of extortion and mistreatment of subordinates before his death in November 2024.
According to the open-source monitoring project Killed in Ukraine, at least 7,495 Russian officers—across all ranks—have been killed since February 2022. While most of these are lower-ranking officers, the death toll among generals remains unusually high, reflecting persistent threats to Russia’s command structure across operational zones and domestic territory.
Some generals were reportedly targeted in Ukrainian missile and drone strikes, others fell victim to internal instability, and a few remain unconfirmed or ambiguous. For example, The Insider mentions Major General Andrey Kolesnikov, who was reported killed in 2022 but appeared in Russian state media the following year in Syria.
Earlier, Ukraine’s Atesh resistance network reported that Russian officers on the Pokrovsk front were seeking transfers to safer areas, citing low morale and worsening conditions. Commanders responded with threats and forced them to file reports claiming the situation was under control.
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