The Russian colonel was reportedly killed in Ukraine as Vladimir Putin’s troops continued to suffer major defeats for more than a month after the war. Colonel Vitaly Slabtsov, 43, was a select paratrooper with the 83rd Special Air Brigade based in Ussuriysk in eastern Russia. The exact nature of his death is unclear, but his brigade is believed to have suffered heavy casualties amid fierce fighting with Ukrainian troops. Mr Slabstov is the latest Russian high-profile military figure to be killed. At least eight other Russian colonels are believed to have been killed during the war in Ukraine.
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Colonel Vitaly Slabtsov / east2west news Colonel Denis Kurilo, commander of the 200th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, was killed in battle this week during an attack in Kharkov. Colonel Nikolai Ovcharenko, commander of the Western Military District’s engineering troops, was killed in an ambush that left 18 Russians dead near a floating bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River. A funeral was held for Mr. Slabtsov and he was posthumously awarded military honors. Funeral of Lieutenant Colonel Vitaly Slabtsov / east2west news Russia has lost 7,000 to 15,000 troops since the invasion of Ukraine, according to Western military officials. Slabtsov was from Ryazan, in central Russia, where the aristocratic Ryazan Airborne Guard School for paratroopers was located. It comes as Russia continues to withdraw some of its ground forces from areas around Kyiv after announcing earlier this week that it would reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital and the northern city of Chernihiv. The Ukrainian army announced that it had recaptured 29 settlements in the Kiev and Chernihiv regions. Russia has reportedly been sending troops to the eastern part of the country as it prepares for a large-scale offensive in the Donbas region.
