Vladimir Putin has lost his 53rd colonel in the war in Ukraine as yet another high-ranking Russian commander has died.
Colonel Sergei Postnov was killed on a combat mission earlier this week, according to reports.
He was part of a military propaganda unit in the Russian National Guard, which reports directly to Putin.
He had been on active duty with Russian forces close to Kyiv, in Kharkiv as well as more recently in the Luhansk region.
It is unclear exactly how and where he was killed.
An official statement said that his life was “cut short” while on a mission in Ukraine.
It said he had “performed service and combat missions in the zone of the special military operation in Ukraine” from the start of Putin’s active campaign on February 24.
“He was distinguished by high professionalism, organisation and diligence, and a creative approach to solving problems,” said the Russian Interior Ministry’s council of veterans.
He was a graduate of the Yekaterinburg Suvorov Military School in 1997, and believed to be in his 40s.
His death was the latest in a huge toll of Russian top brass to be wiped out in Putin’s war in Ukraine.
He is the 53rd colonel known to have died, while a minimum of 11 generals have also been slain.
Overall Russian losses are believed to be in excess of 30,000.
Postnov leaves behind a widow Ekaterina and daughter.
Last month The Mirror told how two more Russian colonels had been killed in Russia’s war in Ukraine - including the country’s “best paratroop commander”.
Lt-Col Alexander Dosyagayev, 34, was a commander of an airborne assault battalion of the 104th paratrooper regiment.
Troops from his 104th air assault regiment were reportedly in Bucha, which was the scene of alleged rape and torture atrocities by Vladimir Putin ’s forces earlier in the war.
His battalion based in Pskov had been recognised as the best in Russia in checks on combat training and military discipline.
At the military festival ‘Army of Russia-2021’, he was judged the winner of the Winged Infantry category.
Russian media outlet Mediazona confirmed the death of another colonel killed earlier in the war which has not been announced.
Col Vladimir Ivanov, 41, has been labelled a “propagandist” by the Ukrainian media because he served in the Russian defence ministry’s department of Information and Mass Communication.