The 55-year-old major general led the Russian electronic warfare units of the Russian Second Army.
He is the youngest Russian general to be killed so far after Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
Simonov was reportedly hit by Ukrainian artillery fire while on the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian town of Izium on Saturday.
In the same attack, up to 100 Russian soldiers were reportedly killed Kyiv post.
The death was reportedly first announced by Zelenskyj’s adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych, during a live broadcast on YouTube over the weekend.
Open field command post for the Russian 2nd Army
The attack was launched when Ukrainian intelligence identified a Russian field command post for the Russian 2nd Army in the area on April 30. The coordinates of the Russian forces were then relayed to the Ukrainian defense positions in the same area.
In the artillery fire that followed, more than 30 Russian armored vehicles, including several tanks, were reportedly hit by the rocket salvoes.
Among those who fell victim to Ukrainian grenades was Major General Andrej Simonov. He was there to lead Russian forces trying to penetrate Ukraine’s defense lines. The objective is to open a front towards Sloviansk in the Donetsk region to encircle the Ukrainian forces in a pincer maneuver.
More than 300 Russian officers killed
according evening standard Russia reportedly lost a total of 36 colonels in the two-month war of aggression, while a total of nine generals suffered the same fate.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has continuously released Russian casualty figures, but these have not been confirmed by independent sources. Ukraine claims that 23,500 Russian soldiers died, 1,026 tanks destroyed and around 200 planes disabled.
If these figures are true, it will mean a significant weakening of the Russian strike force.
Daily Mail writes that more than 300 Russian officers have so far been killed by Ukrainian forces and that Simonov is the ninth Russian general to be killed in action.
The Chief of Staff escaped an artillery attack
Late last week, Zelenskyj’s adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych, admitted that Ukrainian forces had suffered heavy losses, but that Russian occupation forces had suffered “colossal losses”.
According to Russian Chief of Staff Valeriy Gerasimov The New York Times narrowly escaping a Ukrainian attack during his visit to the front at Izium this weekend.
The Ukrainians attacked the base when they learned that Gerasimov was staying, but the general reportedly left the area before the shells hit.
