ONE of Vladimir Putin’s top generals was shot dead by a sniper in a major blow to the Kremlin’s war plan to annihilate Ukraine.
Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky was reportedly killed at the battle for Hostomel Airfield about 30 miles outside the capital Kyiv.
Ukrainian soldiers fought off a Spetsnaz special forces air assault there — and his loss could explain why Russian forces failed to secure the airfield as well as why the assault on Kyiv had stalled.
The elite para commander is the most senior officer known to have died since Putin unleashed his bloodbath on February 24.
News of his death came as the 40-mile convoy approaching the capital ground to a halt when it got bogged down in mud.
Putin confirmed that a general had died, after the Kremlin said 498 Russian soldiers had lost their lives in the conflict and more than 1,500 had been injured.
Ukraine claimed the real Russian death toll was almost 20 times higher, with some 9,000 soldiers killed in action.
Officials in Kyiv also said some 2,000 civilians had died during eight days of shelling and airstrikes.
At least 33 people were slaughtered yesterday in airstrikes in Chernihiv, north of the capital.
Ukraine’s lion-hearted president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was trying to “erase us all” with attacks on civilian targets.
The death of Gen Sukhovetsky, 47, was announced by a Russian veterans’ group yesterday and on social media by his colleague Sergey Chipilyov.
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A military source confirmed that he was killed by a sniper.
The Syria war veteran, commissioned as an officer in 1995, was commanding the elite 7th Guards Airborne Division. Another source said: “He was famed for leading missions in hostile territory.”
Meanwhile, British officials said the 40-mile column of troops and ammunition had made little discernible progress in more than three days.
It appears to be stuck about 20 miles from the centre of Kyiv.
The Ministry of Defence said it was stopped by “staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion”.
Experts said shoddy soldering was also to blame for trucks getting stuck.
And unseasonably warm weather has left frozen fields boggy.
One 20-ton vehicle ground to a halt in 18in-deep mud with scores of other vehicles backed up behind.
When troops tried to haul it clear, its tyres exploded because of poor maintenance, according to experts.
Former US Department of Defense official Trent Telenko said the logjams would leave Russian convoys exposed as sitting ducks for Ukrainian troops
Tanks and trucks are getting blitzed by resistance fighters using British-made NLAW anti-tank weapons and US Javelin missiles.
But the longer the convoy is stuck, the greater the fears that Putin will resort to even more ruthless tactics — blasting cities to smithereens.
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