Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has suffered further blows with the death of two more senior Russian figures including a feared commander in the Wagner Group.
Aleksei Nagin, a senior figure in the Wagner Group - a private military contractor close to the Kremlin - was found dead in Bakhmut on September 20 as Ukrainian forces continued to liberate previously occupied areas of the Donbas region.
Wagner mercenaries led by Putin's close ally Yevgeny Prigozhin are playing an increasingly high profile role in the fighting in Ukraine due to disillusionment and heavy losses by the Russian army.
Also killed was secret service officer Aleksei Katerinichev, hit by a targeted missile attack in the Kherson region on Friday, according to a Russian news agency report.
Katerinichev was a veteran of more than 20 counter-terrorist operations and had played a crucial role in Russian operations in southern Ukraine.
"Katerinichev died as a result of a pinpoint strike from HIMARS. Two rockets hit the house in which he was," said Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Moscow-controlled Kherson region, reported Tass.
While Putin on Friday signed agreements to make Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson part of Russia, losing two of his top military personnel in quick succession underlines the difficulties that have beset his military operation.
Despite's Putin's annexation, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson are only under partial Russian control.
Nagin had served in Chechnya and Georgia with the Russian army before becoming a mercenary for Wagner, who posthumously awarded him their platinum star award.
Katerinichev was effectively second in command in the Kherson region as first deputy chairman of the civil military administration.
And while Putin celebrated in Moscow with the Kremlin-appointed heads of the annexed regions, several units of his troops are currently surrounded in Lyman, Donetsk, according to reports.
Ukrainian forces have circled the city, with DPR leader Denis Pushilin confirming that several settlements have been attacked before his meeting with Putin.
Pro-Russian telegram channel Rybar reportedly said: “If emergency measures are not taken in the near future to unblock Liman and transfer a significant part of the reserves, then the city, together with its defenders, will fall.”
