Russia has been hit by a series of deaths among its leading military figures since its invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine claims more than 11,000 Russian soldiers have died in the war though the US military estimates the figure to be between 5,000 and 6,000.
Below is a list of top Russian commanders who have died during the fighting in Ukraine. They include a warlord close to the leader of Chechnya and a highly-decorated general whose death was acknowledged by President Vladimir Putin.
Andrey Kolesnikov
Major General Andrey Kolesnikov, commander of Russia’s 29th army, was killed by Ukrainian forces on Friday, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
Illia Ponomarenko, a reporter for the Kyiv Independent, shared the news in a tweet saying: "The elimination of military leaders on the ground gets really catastrophic for Russia."
Yuri Agarkov and Konstantin Zizevsky
Guards Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Agarkov died alongside fellow paratrooper Colonel Konstantin Zizevsky in the south of Ukraine, it was reported on Wednesday.
Zizevsky was commander of the 247th guards airborne assault regiment while Agarkov had served as chief of staff of the 56th army in Kamyshin before it was deployed to the Crimea, the Mirror reports.
Mikhail Vedernikov, the governor of Pskov in Russia, posted on Instagram that they had "honourably fulfilled their duty, valiantly and courageously defending the security of our country".
And Mikhail Minenkov, mayor of the Russian city of Nevinnomyssk, wrote: "The news of Konstantin's death is a terrible blow! It hurts even to think that he is no more."
Vitaly Gerasimov
Ukraine said on Monday that its military had killed Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, the first de puty commander of the 41st army.
Gerasimov was a decorated military veteran who had taken part in the second Chechen war, Russia's military operation in Syria, and the 2014 annexation of Crimea. Ukraine said Gerasimov and the other senior officers were killed in fighting near Kharkiv.
Andrey Sukhovetsky
Russian media confirmed that General Andrey Sukhovetsky, deputy commander of the 41st combined, was killed by a sniper in Ukraine. He was reportedly killed alongside two other commanders.
Sukhovetsky, who was also the head of the seventh airborne division, was paid tribute in a social media post by Sergey Chipilev, of a Russian army veterans' group.
He wrote: "With great pain, we learned the tragic news of the death of our friend, Major General Andrey Sukhovetsky, on the territory of Ukraine during the special operation. We express our deepest condolences to his family."
President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the 47-year-old's death in a publicly broadcast speech on March 2. The general was highly decorated having been awarded 14 medals.
Dmitry Safronov and Denis Glebov
In a statement on Monday Ukraine's Ministry of Defence said Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Safronov, of the 61st separate marine brigade, was killed while the northern city of Chuhuiv was being "liberated" from Russian forces.
The ministry said the officer was killed as Russian forces "suffered heavy losses in personnel and equipment" during the fighting.
Ukraine said Lieutenant Colonel Denis Glebov, deputy commander of the 11th separate airborne assault brigade, was killed in the same battle. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage and a memorial service was held for the paratrooper on March 6 in the Russian city of Ryazan.
Magomed Tushaev
General Magomed Tushaev died when his Chechen special forces column, including 56 tanks, was obliterated near Hostomel. The soldiers had reportedly been given a pack of cards showing senior Ukrainian officials that the Kremlin wanted dead.
Tushaev, commander of the 141th motorised national guard brigade, had previously been pictured with Chechen head of state Ramzan Kadyrov in a "measure of his importance" to the Chechen regime, the Daily Mail reports.
Tushaev was a leader in the anti-gay purges in Chechnya. He was described as "the right hand" of Kadyrov by the Daily Express and a "brutal warlord" by the Mirror.
Vladimir Zhoga
Guards Colonel Vladimir Zhoga led the Sparta battalion, a neo-Nazi military unit backed by the Kremlin. He was killed last Saturday during battle in the eastern Ukrainian town of Volnovakha.
Denis Pushilin, who heads the breakaway Ukrainian territory of Donetsk, confirmed the death on Telegram. "Today, the commander of the Sparta separate reconnaissance battalion, Guards Col. Vladimir Zhoga, died like a hero in Volnovakha," he wrote.
According to Pushilin, Zhoga was killed during an operation to evacuate civilians from Volnovakha. This was one of the cities where Russian troops violated a ceasefire agreement.
Zhoga joined the Sparta battalion in 2014. He had been involved in the war in the Donbas region since hostilities started eight years ago, the Sun reports.
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