Russia lost 19 generals during the war in Ukraine

At least 19 Russian generals have been killed since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to open-source data and reports from Russian and Ukrainian sources.

Not all of these deaths have been officially confirmed by Moscow.

Losses among senior command personnel were recorded both at the front and in rear areas, including as a result of headquarters strikes, aircraft incidents, sabotage, and explosions on Russian territory. Some generals were killed by snipers or artillery fire during the early months of the war.

In 2022, the deaths of Generals Andrei Sukhovetsky, Oleg Mityaev, Vladimir Frolov, Andrei Simonov, Kanamat Botashev, and Roman Kutuzov were reported.

In subsequent years, the list expanded to include Sergei Goryachev, Oleg Tsokov, Vladimir Zavadsky, and others.

In 2024 and 2025, the following senior officers died: Igor Kirillov, head of the NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) Defense Troops; Yaroslav Moskalik, Deputy Head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff; Mikhail Gudkov, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy; and Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the General Staff, who was killed in a car bombing in Moscow.

Some of those killed were retired at the time of their deaths or were serving in volunteer or assault units, including Storm Z formations and private military companies.

Full list in chronological order

Andrei Sukhovetsky – Major General
He served as Deputy Commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army. He died on February 28, 2022, in the Chernihiv region. According to available reports, he was shot by a sniper. He became the first general whose death was confirmed by the Russian side.

Oleg Mityaev – Major General
He commanded the 150th Motorized Rifle Division. He is believed to have been killed during the battle for Mariupol in the spring of 2022. Ukraine’s Azov Battalion claimed he was eliminated; this information was partially confirmed by pro-war sources in the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Frolov – Major General
He served as Deputy Commander of the 8th Combined Arms Army. He was killed on March 10, 2022, in Mariupol, officially as a result of sniper fire.

Andrei Simonov – Major General
He commanded electronic warfare troops in the Western Military District. He is believed to have been killed on April 30, 2022, following an artillery strike on a command post near Izyum in the Kharkiv region.

Kanamat Botashev – Major General (retired)
After leaving active service, he took part in combat operations as part of the Wagner PMC. His Su-25 aircraft was shot down by Ukrainian forces on May 22, 2022; his death was confirmed by Russian authorities.

Roman Kutuzov – Lieutenant General
Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander of the 8th Combined Arms Army. He died on June 5, 2022, near Popasna in Luhansk Oblast. His death was officially confirmed.

Dmitry Ulyanov – Major General (retired)
He commanded a regiment formed from mobilized personnel in Tatarstan. He died on February 6, 2023.

Sergei Goryachev – Major General
He served as Chief of Staff of the 35th Combined Arms Army. He was killed on June 12, 2023, following a strike on the army’s headquarters in Primorsk during the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Oleg Tsokov – Lieutenant General
Deputy Commander of the Southern Military District. He was killed on July 11, 2023, in a strike on the reserve command post of the 58th Army in Berdyansk.

Vladimir Zavadsky – Major General
Deputy Commander of the 14th Army Corps. He died on November 28, 2023, near the village of Krynky in the Kherson region. According to various reports, he was killed by a mine explosion or shelling.

Igor Trifonov – Major General of Police (stripped of rank)
Former head of the Yekaterinburg Interior Department, previously convicted of bribery. He died in combat on December 12, 2023, as confirmed by Russian sources.

Andrei Golovatsky – Major General (retired)
Previously served as First Deputy Chief of Staff of the North Caucasus Regional Command of the Interior Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He died on June 30, 2024.

Ildar Saidov – Major General of the Customs Service
After mobilization, he was recruited into the “Storm Z” assault unit. He died on September 14, 2024.

Pavel Klimenko – Major General
He commanded the 5th Guards Brigade. He died on November 6, 2024; his death was officially confirmed.

Igor Kirillov – Lieutenant General
Head of the Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Defense Troops of the Russian Armed Forces. He died on December 17, 2024, in an explosion on Ryazansky Prospekt in Moscow; his driver was killed alongside him.

Konstantin Smeshko – Major General
He died on December 26, 2024, in Russia. The circumstances of his death were never officially disclosed; theories included an airstrike or a HIMARS attack.

Yaroslav Moskalik – Lieutenant General
Deputy Head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. He died on April 25, 2025, as a result of an explosion in Russia.

Mikhail Gudkov – Major General of the Guard
He served as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy. According to Ukrainian media, he died on July 2, 2025, during a missile strike; the Russian side reported his death as occurring “while carrying out a combat mission” in the Kursk region.

Fanil Sarvarov – Lieutenant General
He headed the Operational Training Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation. He died on December 22, 2025, in a car bomb explosion in Moscow. His death was officially confirmed.

Additionally, in 2022, the death of Major General Kolesnikov was reported. However, in 2023, television host and propagandist Vladimir Solovyov published what was claimed to be a new report from Syria, in which his interlocutor was Kolesnikov, who had assumed the position of Deputy Commander of the Russian contingent.