Russian general, known personally to Putin, killed ‘British-supplied Storm Shadow missile’
Vladmir Putin has lost another top general “in an attack by British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles,” according to both Ukrainian and Russian sources.
Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov, 51, was personally known to the dictator and had received sanctions from Britain and the EU for his role in the war against Ukraine.
A Ukrainian claim today that the commander had been ‘liquidated’ was later supported by Russian broadcasters with significant military ties.
Pre-war Russian Telegram channel Voenkory Russkoy Vesny admitted that “as a result of the attack with Storm Shadow cruise missiles on the command post of the 58th army in the Berdiansk region, Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov […] is killed.’
“Colleagues speak of Tsokov as a skilled officer and a good commander.”
Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov, 51, was reportedly killed by Ukrainian forces
Aftermath of an alleged UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile attack in Berdiansk on July 11, 2023
Vladimir Putin meets Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov in June 2021
Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov was Deputy Commander of the Southern Military District.
Russian outlet VChK-OGPU said he was killed in an attack on the 58th Army reserve command post in Berdiansk.
Earlier, a Ukrainian official also said the Russian general was “liquidated” by Kiev forces around Berdiansk without saying how he was killed.
Berdiansk, a strategically important port on the Sea of Azov in the Zaporizhzhia region, has been hit in recent weeks by the Ukrainians deploying UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
The missiles have a range of 250 kilometers, farther than other weapons supplied by the West in the hands of Ukraine.
New explosions were reported today with smoke rising over the city, a key access point to annexed Crimea.
Russian outlet Readovka reported that these were new Storm Shadow attacks, but there was no immediate confirmation.
The strikes were videotaped after the general’s death.
The exact timing of the attack that killed Tsokov remains unclear.
The delivery of Storm Stream missiles to Ukraine was confirmed in May 2023 by the British government – which has an estimated 700 to 1,000.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace confirmed that the missiles had already been used by Ukraine on May 18, but declined to give further details.
The £2.2 million missiles per unit This allows Ukrainian troops to penetrate deeper into Russian-held territory.
They were believed to have been used when Russian MP Viktor Vodolatsky was injured in an attack on May 15.
Britain sent a load of Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine, allowing Kiev’s troops to strike deeper into Russian-held territory
Oleg Tsokov in the photo with his wife Elena
General Tsokov was wounded in Luhansk earlier in September 2022, but returned to the front.
Tsokov was the commander of Vladimir Putin’s 144th motorized rifle division of the 20th Combined Arms Army.
A month ago it was reported that Major General Sergey Goryachev, 52, was killed in a strike in the same Zaporizhzhia region.
He was Chief of Staff of the Russian 35th Combined Arms Army.
If Tsokov’s death is confirmed, it means that Putin has lost up to a dozen generals.
He was sanctioned by Britain in December 2022 from a group of a dozen top executives “involved in attacks on Ukrainian cities.”
A video shows the general addressing Putin at a ceremony at the Kremlin in 2021.
He thanked Putin for his “personal…precise attention” that enabled the Russian war machine to “master the most modern munitions and military equipment.”
Tsokov was married and the father of two children.