General Aleksandr Dvornikov, who was tapped by Putin to take charge of the war in Ukraine in April after the failed assault on Kyiv, has been missing for a fortnight, US officials say.
Russian commanders are hesitant to seize the initiative and are deferring decision because they are afraid of being blamed for mistakes, the UK says, which has hobbled Putin s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia's Defense Ministry says 771 Ukrainian fighters at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol Ukraine's last stronghold in the besieged southern port city have "surrendered" in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 1,730 since May 16 as the Red Cross began registering "hundreds" of them.
More than two months have passed since Vladimir Putin launched a military assault against his neighbour Ukraine in a bid to overthrow the Volodymyr Zelensky regime
The commander of the first tank army of the western military district Lieutenant General Sergei Kisel has also been arrested and fired after the first tank army was defeated near Kharkiv.