Russian general notified killed in attack on Berdyansk hotel
Lt Gen Oleg Tsokov is said to have died in a strike on a hotel housing Russian military commanders in Berdyansk, on Ukraine's occupied southern coast.
Russia's defence ministry has not officially confirmed his death. But it was widely announced by Russian war channels on the Telegram messaging app.
TV host Olga Skabeyeva said "absolutely all media" were reporting it.
Lt Gen Tsokov was deputy commander of Russia's southern military district. Ms Skabeyeva who presents a talk show on the state-run Rossiya-1 channel said he was killed by a UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile.
Andrei Gurulyov, an MP and retired general who appeared on her popular 60 Minutes show on Tuesday, said the general had returned to Ukraine despite being badly wounded earlier in the conflict.
He was hit last September while commanding Russia's 144th Motorized Infantry Division in the Svatove area of occupied eastern Ukraine.
"Unfortunately, he died heroically. This man deserves huge respect," the retired general said.
Several Russian war accounts on Telegram also reported his death, including blogger WarGonzo and Military Informant, a channel with more than half a million followers.
In the absence of official comment from Moscow, military bloggers have previously proven an insightful source of information on the Russian side.
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