Russian general who briefed Putin on capture of Kostiantynivka killed in Ukraine

Source: TASS

Russian Major General Anton Grunis, commander of the 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Southern Group of Forces, has been killed, Lieutenant General Apti Alaudinov confirmed after Ukrainian and Russian sources had already reported his death. Alaudinov is deputy head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of Russia’s Armed Forces and commander of the Akhmat unit.

Russia’s Defense Ministry

Alaudinov offered no further details. In a post on the Max messenger cited by Russia’s state news agency TASS, he said only that Grunis “died a hero, having fulfilled his sacred duty to the end.”

Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces who goes by the callsign “Madyar,” said Grunis was killed on September 12, 2026, in the Donetsk region in a Ukrainian drone strike.

According to Brovdi, Grunis was the officer who reported to the Russian president in July on the capture of Kostiantynivka, though Russian forces still do not fully control the city. At the time, Putin described Grunis as “a man with a Lithuanian surname, born in Kazan, who fights brilliantly.”

Brovdi said Grunis is the seventh senior Russian military officer killed in strikes by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces.

In late August, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that Defense Minister Andrei Belousov had presented Grunis with the Gold Star medal of Hero of Russia “for courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty.”

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Russian general who briefed Putin on capture of Kostiantynivka killed in Ukraine

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