Ukraine kills son of top Putin commander accused of war crimes in revenge strike

Ukraine has confirmed it killed the son of a top Putin commander in a deadly attack in southern Ukraine. Kyiv's special forces discovered a hideout used by Russian drone operators during an aerial reconnaissance mission in Zaporizhzhia in the middle of October.

The Russian position was in the village of Plavn in the Vasylivka district. The GUR unit called in an airstrike that obliterated the Russian position with a guided aerial bomb. Ukraine's military later shared a video of the strike on social media channels, showing the powerful moment of impact.

One of the Russian soldiers in the hideout was Lieutenant Vasily Marzoyev, platoon commander of the 108th parachute regiment of the 7th airborne assault division.

Marzoyev and his fellow soldiers were killed by the powerful blast from the bomb. He was the son of Lieutenant General Arkadiy Marzoyev, currently commander of Russia's 18th combined arms army of the Southern Military District.

The Lieutenant General is one of a number of senior Russian officers accused of deliberately targeting civilians in Kherson city between January and October 2023.

Russian forces pounded residential areas, schools, hospitals and critical infrastructure during the 10-month period with a deadly combination of artillery, missiles and drones.

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) claims that these attacks killed at least 113 people, including three children, and wounded over 280.

Earlier, Ukrainian forces eliminated Russian machine gunner Tasbolat Ibrashev near Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region.

Ibrashev, once portrayed by Russian media as a "hero" of the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, rejoined the Russian army in 2023 after years of civilian life in Astrakhan.

His death in Ukraine was confirmed by Russian sources.

It comes as Ukraine's special forces carried out a lethal revenge attack on Russian paratroopers, accused of committing war crimes.

The daring operation took place deep inside Russia in the southwest city of Stavropol, home to the military base of the 247th Guards Air Assault Regiment.