Ukraine forces eliminate Russian colonel in HIMARS strike

The Ukrainian Army has eliminated the chief of missile troops and artillery of the 35th combined army of the Russian armed forces, Colonel Boris Totikov, Russian propaganda media outlets reported on September 26.

Totikov and another soldier, the head of the automobile service of guards military unit No. 74268, captain Oleg Lebedev, were reportedly buried in Russia’s city of Ryazan on September 25, The New Voice of Ukraine reports.

According to Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov, the Russian army colonel was killed in a HIMARS MLRS strike on the headquarters of the Russian invaders in the town of Izyum in Kharkiv Oblast, just ahead of the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Balakliya.

“It was the headquarters of the 35th combined army that was responsible for commanding the troops in this area – the breakthrough occurred in their area,” the journalist said in a Telegram messenger post on September 26.

“And now, as we can see, there are reasons to say that the Russian command suffered significant losses in this area. The chief of missile troops and artillery is one of the key elements in modern warfare. Now it is clear that the defeat of the Russians was largely connected with the loss of control and the accurate determination by Ukrainian intelligence of the location of Russian headquarters and their precise defeat.”

According to the latest data, Russian military losses have exceeded 57,000 people since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.