ANOTHER RUSSIAN GENERAL REPORTED DEAD AS COMMAND LOSSES MOUNT
September 15, 2026
Another Russian general may have bitten the dust.
Russian military-linked channels are reporting the death of Major General Anton Feliksovich Grunis, commander of the 4th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade. Russia’s Defense Ministry has not yet issued an official confirmation, and the date, location and circumstances of his reported death remain undisclosed.
The reports emerged after a Russian military alumni channel published an obituary for an officer named Anton, describing him as a graduate of the Kazan Suvorov Military School. Other Russian and Ukrainian sources subsequently identified the man as Grunis.
Grunis took command of the 4th Brigade in May 2023 after the death of its previous commander, Colonel Vyacheslav Makarov. His formation fought around Bakhmut and later operated along the Chasiv Yar and Kostiantynivka directions. He was promoted to major general in 2024.
A brigade commander at this level is responsible for far more than troops in individual trenches. He coordinates assault groups, artillery, logistics, reconnaissance and communications across a large section of the battlefield. His removal would disrupt accumulated knowledge and working relationships even if Russia appoints a replacement quickly.
The report follows confirmation from the Atesh partisan movement that Lieutenant General Sergei Milchakov, commander of Russia’s 51st Combined Arms Army, was killed in a Ukrainian strike against command facilities in occupied Donetsk on August 26.
Reports of both deaths surfaced within days of each other, although the generals were not necessarily killed during the same week. If Grunis’s death is independently confirmed, Russia will have lost two senior field commanders closely connected to its operations in Donetsk region.