Ukrainian officials reportedly said they have killed senior Russian commander Lt. Gen. Oleg Tsokov near the Russian-occupied city of Berdiansk in the southern Zaporizhzhia region Tuesday (July 11) using a UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile.
Tsokov was one of many Russian individuals sanctioned by the UK and the European Union (EU) over Russia's war with Ukraine. He commanded the 144th Motorized Rifle Division back in 2022, according to Russian state news outlet TASS.
Petro Andriushchenko, a representative to the Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol Vadym Boichenko, stated the general died after an earlier incident where he was injured in Luhansk last year. "In September 2022, he [Tsokov] was already injured, but he survived," he said.
Ukrainian member of parliament Yurii Mysyagin also commented on the commander's death, saying it was a Storm Shadow that killed Tsokov.
CNN said they could not independently verify the reports about the Russian general's death as of this report.
Russian lieutenant general Oleg Tsokov was reportedly killed near temporarily occupied Berdiansk - advisor to Mariupol mayor Petro Andriushchenko.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) July 11, 2023
Tsokov was under sanctions of the EU, Great Britain and New Zealand.
Since August 2022 he commanded the 144th motorized rifle… pic.twitter.com/LEqwoMzAbt
Tsokov's Death the Latest in the List of Dead Russian Generals
The 51-year-old general was personally known to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pro-Russian Telegram channel Voenkory Russkoy Vesny said Tsokov was remembered by his colleagues as "a competent officer and a good commander."
Tsokov was stationed in the city of Berdiansk, a strategically important port city on the Sea of Azov in the Zaporizhzhya region frequently hit with Storm Shadows in recent weeks. The exact timing of the strike which killed the general remains unclear.
If Tsokov's death was confirmed, Putin would have lost at least a dozen generals.
