A top Russian general has been killed amid bitter fighting in Ukraine in what represents a major blow to the Russian invasion. Major General Andrey Sukhovetsky, who was the deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army of Russia’s Central Military District, died yesterday as Ukrainian defense forces repelled the Russian offensive.

His death has not yet been officially confirmed by Russia’s Ministry of Defence, but was announced on social media by his colleague Sergey Chipilyov and was widely reported by several Russian and Ukrainian news outlets. A military source confirmed that he was killed ‘by a sniper’, and suggested a funeral for the Major General – by far the most senior Russian figure to have died in the conflict thus far – will be held in Russia on Saturday.

After days of denial, the Kremlin yesterday admitted that 498 of its troops have been killed and 1,600 injured in the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine, but the true figure is almost certainly higher. Ukraine’s armed forces meanwhile claimed today that Russia’s army had suffered 9,000 casualties – though the statement recognized that the calculation of the death toll ‘is complicated by the high intensity of hostilities’.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky praised his own people’s “heroic” resistance – as he bragged they had “broken” Russia’s plan for a quick win. He said that around 9,000 Russian soldiers had been killed since the invasion began eight days ago.

The president urged the “confused children” to go home – with videos showing very young captured Russian soldiers blubbering for their mums. However, announcing its own death toll for the first time, Moscow said it had lost 498 troops and around 1,600 have been wounded.

It is hinted however the true toll is likely somewhere in the middle of those two figures – and photos show stunning levels of devastation. Dramatic pictures show one convoy of Russian trucks which had been totally blown apart in Borodyanka, around 40 miles of Kyiv. At least ten trucks are seen in the photos along with a number of armored vehicles.