Russian state media have revealed that one of Russia's highest ranking generals was killed in a firefight in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine.
A reporter for the state-owned Rossiya 1 said that Maj. Gen. Roman Kutuzov was killed while conducting an attack on a Ukrainian town in the region.
The reporter, Alexander Sladkov, disclosed that Kutuzov was in command of the Donetsk People's Republic military.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has not issued a statement in response to the reports.
Sladkov commented on the Telegram social media app, "The general led soldiers into battle as though there were insufficient colonels. Alternatively, Roman was the same commander as everyone else, but with a higher rank."
The Ukrainian military also announced the general's death, but did not elaborate on the circumstances.
The weekend combat also claimed the life of Lt. General Roman Berdnikov, commander of the 29th Army, according to rumors circulating on social media.
Moscow has verified the deaths of four senior generals as a result of Russia's increasing deployment of commanders to the front lines in an effort to advance the invasion.
At least seven top commanders have been killed, according to Western intelligence officials, while Kiev claims to have killed 12 generals.
However, allegations of the deaths of several additional Russian officials have caused confusion. It has been alleged that three generals that Ukrainian forces claimed to have killed are still alive.
In March, Ukrainian military reported that Major General Vitaly Gerasimov was killed near the country's second largest city, Kharkiv. On May 23, however, Russian state media reported that he had been bestowed a state honor and refuted claims of his death.
Another official, Maj. Gen Magomed Tushaev, occasionally appears in social media videos and appears to be still alive.
And on March 18, Kiev claimed that Lt. General Andrey Mordvichev was killed in an airstrike in the district of Kherson.
However, he later appeared in a video meeting with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, and BBC Russia reported on May 30 that he is still alive.
In Russia, generals' deaths are rarely formally acknowledged. In the case of Maj. General Vladimir Frolov, there was no mention of his death in state-run media prior to his April funeral in St. Petersburg.
Russia classifies military deaths as state secrets even in times of peace and has not updated its official fatality figures in Ukraine since March 25, when it reported that 1,351 Russian servicemen had died since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.
