Putin Called Him “Brilliant”—Ukraine’s Unmanned Forces Confirmed it Had Other Plans for Russian General

A Russian major general whom Vladimir Putin publicly praised as “brilliant” was killed in a Ukrainian drone operation in the temporarily occupied part of the Donetsk region, according to Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS).

SBS Commander Robert “Madyar” Brovdi said on September 16 that Major General Anton Grunis, commander of Russia’s 4th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, was killed on September 12 in an operation carried out by the 427th Separate Unmanned Systems Brigade “Rarog.”

Brovdi also released footage said to show the strike on the site where the Russian commander was staying. “A man with a Lithuanian surname, born in Kazan, is fighting brilliantly,” Putin previously said of Grunis, according to Brovdi.

Grunis, who used the call sign “Grozny,” had reported to Putin in July that Russian forces had fully captured Kostiantynivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. He subsequently received the Hero of Russia title.

According to Brovdi, Ukrainian forces located Grunis in the temporarily occupied part of the Donetsk region before carrying out the strike on September 12.

Brovdi said the operation was conducted by personnel of the 427th Separate Unmanned Systems Brigade “Rarog.”

He also said Grunis was the seventh confirmed Russian commander at the brigade, division, or army level killed in operations conducted by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces.

Earlier, Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Milchakov was reported to have possibly been killed in a Ukrainian strike on a Russian military headquarters in temporarily occupied Donetsk in late August. His death has not been officially confirmed.

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