Photo: HUR
A 27-year-old Russian senior lieutenant Mikhail Konopitsyn was killed during the shelling of Belgorod on 30 December.
This is stated on the website of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine.
According to the intelligence service, in November 2023, Konopitsyn was sent to Belgorod to work as part of the military investigation department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.
Prior to this assignment, he served as a platoon commander of anti-tank missiles, participating in the war against Ukraine.
Earlier, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine noted that the occupiers were experiencing an «acute shortage» of junior officers, so they ordered to accelerate the training of lieutenants. Those who completed the accelerated training and received their primary officer rank were immediately sent to the front.
The liquidation of Konopitsyn was also confirmed by the Russian Investigative Committee itself. They stated that the senior lieutenant «was investigating war crimes committed by the Kyiv regime against civilians and Russian soldiers».
He joined the Investigative Committee in May 2022. Before that, he «served» in the Russian armed forces. On 6 January 2024, he would have turned 28 years old.
The occupiers said they had opened a criminal case to «bring to justice» those involved in the shelling.