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The General also falsely claimed victory in Donetsk earlier this summer.
Russian Major General Anton Grunis spent months commanding Russia’s 4th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade through relentless combat in eastern Ukraine.
Just weeks ago, Moscow celebrated him.
The 48-year-old officer was awarded the “Gold Star” Hero of Russia medal “for courage and heroism displayed in the performance of military duty,” by the Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov in late August, and Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the commander during official talks.
According to TASS, Putin described Grunis as “A man with a Lithuanian surname, born in Kazan, fights brilliantly.”
Now Grunis is dead.
A contested capture
Independent media outlet ASTRA reported that Grunis died in combat, while the Telegram channel Suvorov Brotherhood published his photo alongside news of the fallen 1996 military academy graduate.
The general gained wide attention in early July after informing Putin that his troops had captured Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region. Soon after, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov repeated that claim on state television on July 4.
But official messaging broke down almost immediately. Hours after the broadcast, Russia’s own Defense Ministry reported that heavy combat inside the settlement was still ongoing.
Ukrainian officials rejected the claim. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly invited Putin to meet him in Kostiantynivka to verify who actually held the town.
News outlet Anna News later confirmed the general’s death using internal brigade sources. Russian officials have remained stay silent about how it happened.
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Stalled summer push
Grunis died amidst a grueling battlefield campaign that produced massive losses for Moscow.
Russia began its spring offensive expecting a decisive breakthrough. Six months later, after suffering over 200,000 casualties, front-line units failed to execute a single successful mechanized assault, according to United24 Media.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces relied on tightly coordinated drone networks to shatter incoming armor columns. Those defensive operations allowed Ukrainian troops to reclaim 745 square kilometers of land in the south.
