VLADIMIR PUTIN has lost his 56th colonel Andrei Vasilyev and 40 soldiers after they were hit by missiles supplied by the US.
Col. Andrei Vasilyev, a 49-year-old paratrooper commander, is said to have died in the attack on Friday night.
As the conflict continues, there are claims that an American HIMARS missile with a medium range that was recently given was responsible for destroying additional targets inside the Kremlin.
If the reports are true, his was one of the first casualties caused by the new weapons with a range of 43 miles that were delivered to Ukraine by Vice President Joe Biden.
According to reports, Vasilyev was in an advanced command post of the airborne assault soldiers of the Russian army; however, the precise location of this position was not provided.
He commanded the 137th Guards Airborne Regiment, which was part of the 106th Guards Airborne Division and was headquartered in Ryazan.
In addition to other honors, he was a recipient of the Russian Order of Courage. He was married and had a daughter.
Video shows that the first HIMARS missiles were launched from Ukraine late last week.
It is not known whether this strike was the one that ultimately resulted in the death of Vasilyev during the attack on Friday.
Ukraine reports that a separate HIMARS attack in the Izyum area of the Kharkiv region damaged a Russian command post, resulting in the deaths or injuries of over 40 people.
After being struck by a portable surface-to-air missile, Lieutenant Colonel Sergey Gundorov, 51, became the 55th colonel to lose their life in this conflict. His helicopter was observed exploding in flames as it crashed near Volnovakha in the Donbas.
His damaged Mi-35 made contact with the ground before doing a barrel roll over a thin strip of forest and exploding in a fireball in the middle of a field.
In addition, at least 11 of Putin’s generals have been killed.
It is thought that the total number of Russian casualties exceeds 30,000, with some estimates placing the number closer to 50,000.
On Monday, it will have been 124 days since the invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s soldiers on February 24.
In spite of the fact that the HIMARS airstrike was effective, Ukraine is currently coming under heavy fire, and new strikes have been begun on Kyiv.
A recent barrage of Russian missiles poured down on the nation’s capital, resulting in the death of at least one person just a few hours after Vladimir Putin went to an impromptu late-night meeting in the Kremlin.
There have been multiple strikes in Ukraine, including one on the capital city of Kyiv. In total, 48 cruise missiles have been fired at civilian sites across the country.
On Friday night, the most of the attacks were focused on the neighboring eastern cities of Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, with the latter city currently being completely occupied by the Russian military.
And on Friday night, rockets struck military bases, civilian infrastructure, and residential neighborhoods across the region, including the village of Andriivka, which is located in the northeast.
Kremlin forces began a new wave of intense shelling, which coincided with an increase in the number of assaults that were launched against the city of Kharkiv.
Putin is rumored to be preparing a major broadcast address on the war in Ukraine and relations with the West, following Saturday’s mystery late-night meeting, which sparked rumors of a new offensive.
At the same time, while world leaders were gathering for the annual G7 conference, Boris Johnson and Justin Trudeau of Canada made fun of Vladimir Putin.
