Ukraine: Russian general reported killed in attack on Berdyansk hotel

Lt-Gen Tsokov has reportedly died following a missile strike in Berdyansk

A senior Russian general has been killed in a missile strike in Ukraine, Russian sources have said.

Lt Gen Oleg Tsokov is said to have died in a strike on a hotel housing Russian military commanders in Berdyansk, on Ukraine's occupied southern coast.

Russia's defence ministry has not officially confirmed his death. But it was widely announced by Russian war channels on the Telegram messaging app.

TV host Olga Skabeyeva said "absolutely all media" were reporting it.

Lt Gen Tsokov was deputy commander of Russia's southern military district. Ms Skabeyeva who presents a talk show on the state-run Rossiya-1 channel said he was killed by a UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile.

Andrei Gurulyov, an MP and retired general who appeared on her popular 60 Minutes show on Tuesday, said the general had returned to Ukraine despite being badly wounded earlier in the conflict.

He was hit last September while commanding Russia's 144th Motorized Infantry Division in the Svatove area of occupied eastern Ukraine.

"Unfortunately, he died heroically. This man deserves huge respect," the retired general said.

Several Russian war accounts on Telegram also reported his death, including blogger WarGonzo and Military Informant, a channel with more than half a million followers.

In the absence of official comment from Moscow, military bloggers have previously proven an insightful source of information on the Russian side.

The BBC has not independently verified the death, which was also highlighted by Ukrainian officials.

• Who are Russia's war bloggers and why are they popular?

Reports said he was caught up in a Ukrainian attack that destroyed a hotel accommodating Russian military commanders in Berdyansk, a city in the south-eastern region of Zaporizhzhia on the coast of the Azov Sea.

Images and video from various parts of Berdyansk have circulated on social media, but none show the exact site of the blast.

BBC Verify has confirmed that one photograph shows a column of smoke rising from the area where the Dune Hotel is located.

Russian local social media chatter suggested the strike occurred 0400 local time on 11 July.

Some users said the hotel had been completely levelled, affirming earlier comments from the Berdyansk city military administration, currently operating from Ukraine-controlled territory.

Although there is no confirmation that a Storm Shadow cruise missile was used, the UK government said in May that it had donated an undisclosed number of the missiles to Ukraine.

The Storm Shadow has a range of over 150 miles (240km) - triple that of the missiles Kyiv had previously been using, making it much easier to launch precision strikes.

Ukraine has claimed attacks on Russia's military commanders in Berdyansk before, however, there was initially some doubt that Lt Gen Tsokov was there.

Russia's defence ministry had given no official announcement that he had been promoted from his role as commander of the 144th Motorised Infantry Division in eastern Ukraine, to deputy commander of Russia's Southern Military District.

The military district has a far larger remit, including areas of southern Russia as well as occupied areas of Ukraine. The defence ministry has either been slow to detail changes in command or it has simply avoided announcing them altogether.

Additional reporting by Paul Brown