Putin Loses 57th Russian Colonel In Ukraine War

KEY POINTS

Russia has lost its 57th colonel since the country invaded Ukraine in late February
The officer, 40-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Kislyakov, died near Ukraine's Kherson
Kislyakov, the operation head in Russia's 11th Guards Air Assault Brigade, was buried last Thursday

Russia has lost another colonel as its invasion of Ukraine continues.

Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Kislyakov was buried last Thursday with full military honors in his hometown in the Moscow region, The Independent reported.

The 40-year-old died near Ukraine's Kherson region, according to Josh Gold, the creator of Topcargo200, a website that tracks the number of Russian officers killed in Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Kislyakov was deputy chief of staff and the head of the operation department of the Russian Airborne Forces' 11th Guards Air Assault Brigade, a prestigious paratrooper unit that traces its lineage back to 1968.

He is the 57th colonel to have died since Russia assaulted its western neighbor on Feb. 24 in an attack the Russian government still calls a "special military operation."

At least 12 generals were believed to have been killed in Ukraine as well, per The Independent.

Maj. Gen. Roman Kutuzov was the most recent confirmed Russian general to have been lost this month, according to a reporter of Russia's state-owned Rossiya 1 channel.

He died while leading an assault on a Ukrainian settlement in the partially Russian-occupied Donbas region.

Before Kislyakov's death, another paratrooper commander, 49-year-old Andrei Vasilyev, was the most recently reported fatality among Russian colonels.

A missile launched from an M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, also known as HIMARS, killed the Russian officer in an attack on June 24.

The United States sent four of the systems to Ukraine last month as part of a $700 million military aid package, The Washington Post reported.

Other details regarding the death of Vasilyev, the commander of the 137th Guards Airborne Regiment of the 106th Guards Airborne Division, were unclear.

Russia suffered 36,200 combat losses among its personnel between the start of its invasion and Monday, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense said in its most recent casualty report.

The country's losses also included 1,589 tanks, 3,754 armored fighting vehicles, 217 aircraft, 187 helicopters and 804 artillery units, among other pieces of equipment.

Most of Russia's recent losses were from the directions of the eastern cities of Sloviansk and Donetsk, according to the ministry.