A local news forum in Mariupol, 0629.com, posted a report on the 13th October that the battalion group Dnepr-1 conducted a special operation on the nights of 8th to 9th of October. The report stated that this operation led to the death of a Russian Major-General Sergei Andreichenko, Andrei Borisov (known as Chechen) and two other Russian soldiers.

According to the source, Sergey Andreichenko coordinated the activities of the Russian Special Forces in the Azov Sea area. Also reportedly killed were two Russian soldiers named as Vladimir Lysyakov and Vasiliy Protasov.

Borisov, or Chechen, was part of the terrorist group that seized Mariupol for the separatists at the outbreak of the conflict and was allegedly sent to the city by Girkin. In June, on the eve of the liberation of Mariupol, he was warned about the planned operation and managed to escape, reportedly staging his death.

As at this time, the report on the death of a Russian General in combat in Ukraine is unconfirmed, the only source being 0629 news. However if true this would be of significant diplomatic importance, and a clear indicator of the extent and depth of Russian leadership in driving the conflict in Ukraine.

It is worth noting that Censor.Net carried a story on the 14th of October, quoting Dmytro Tymchuk, about the Russian military conducting a “large scale search operation for a missing reconnaissance group” in the area between Telmanove and Novoazovsk. The Censor.Net article concluded “The Ukrainian military does not have any information about destruction of the group they search. “Why it is missing and why it is so valuable for the Russian command is currently unknown,” Tymchuk wrote”.

Interpretermag.com wrote that “0629 is a valuable source and usually relies on either their own direct reportage or cites social media reports on local events. The quality of their source in the law enforcement services is unknown as they are anonymous”.

Finally it is worth noting that the first denials have emerged from Russian news sources. AMIC.ru reports that Sergei Andreichenko is in fact the name of a famous Russian football player from years gone by, and therefore `rubbishes’ the claim of the death of a Russian General in Ukraine as simply made up. However, the AMIC.ru report does not in fact comment on any details related to the events reported by 0629.com.

Written by BurkoNews team