A Russian general was killed overseeing efforts to stop Ukraine's counteroffensive

• Russian Major General Sergei Goryachev was killed by a Ukrainian missile strike.
• A Russian occupation official in Zaporizhzhia announced Goryachev's death on Tuesday.

A top Russian general was killed by Ukrainian missile strikes — and his death suggests that Moscow's senior military officials are being exposed on the front lines of the war, analysts say

Russian Major General Sergei Goryachev died on the frontlines near Zaporizhzhia, according to Vladimir Rogov, a Russian occupation official.

Rogov shared news of Goryachev's death in a Telegram post, according to a translation by Al Jazeera.

Goryachev was the Chief of Staff of Russia's 35th Army. His death wasn't immediately confirmed by Russia's defense ministry.

Zaporizhzhia has seen fierce fighting as Ukrainian forces continue their counteroffensive and push against Russian defenses, Al Jazeera added.

The reported death of 52-year-old Goryachev suggests two things, according to The Institute for the Study of War: Russian forces have dedicated some of its 35th Combined Arms Army to defense operations in Zaporizhzhia, and that "Russian senior military command officials continue to operate close to the frontline."

But being so close to the fighting leaves them "exposed to accurate Ukrainian strikes," ISW analysts added.

There have been multiple reports of Russian generals and commanders being killed along the frontlines in Ukraine since the war began.

A senior US defense official told Insider in March 2022 that Russian senior officials stay near the front as part of Moscow's military organization and structure.

That's a big difference from militaries like the US, where midlevel troops such as sergeants and petty officers "make decisions literally in the moment on the battlefield," the official said, keeping generals safe away from the fighting.

Those mid-level roles are missing in the Russian military, the official said.