FURIOUS Putin has lost yet another commander after eight Russian soldiers were killed in the latest Ukrainian ambush.

Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Kornik, 39, Chief of Staff of the 40th Engineer Regiment, is reported to have died after his battalion was struck as they were constructing a pontoon bridge in the Chernihiv region in northern Ukraine.

The bodies of at least six dead Russian soldiers were unable to be removed from the river and were carried away by the current, according to senior Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsymbalyuk.

Another eight soldiers in Kornik's regiment were killed and 17 more injured in the strike.

Russia has not officially announced his death, a theme that has been common since the start of the bungled Russian invasion on February 24.

The exact date of the attack isn't known, with separate accounts giving the date of Kornik's death as March 2 and March 15.

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Pictures show a funeral service being held for Putin's commander in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, where he was given full military honours.

Ukrainian sources claim that Kornik was barred from entry to the country five years ago when he was found carrying classified documents seen as military training manuals.

They included blasting and de-mining instructions, as well as guides on installing heavy machine guns on vehicles, and the construction of fortifications and defensive structures.

Kornik was accused at the time of supervising the training of pro-Russian gangs in the occupied territories of Ukraine.

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At the time of the ambush, the 40th Engineer Regiment was trying to build a pontoon bridge over the River Desna.

His death is the latest loss of top brass by Putin's army, which has already seen eight colonels and more than 17,000 troops reportedly killed in the war.

Ukraine announced it had "eliminated" Colonel Denis Kurilo, commander of the 200th motorised rifle brigade, in fierce fighting outside the country's second city Kharkiv.

The Ukrainian army's press office claimed the brigade had suffered massive losses during a so-called "special military operation" in eastern Ukraine.

According to reports, two battalion tactical groups of the 200th were destroyed, with a total loss of more than 1,500 servicemen.

Russia's losses are catastrophic for the army, with at least seven of Putin's generals already wiped out in just five weeks.

In comparison, the Soviet Union lost just five generals during 10 years of brutal fighting in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

It comes as…

• Terrified Roman Abramovich asked if he was going to die after being poisoned by a deadly WWI chemical agent.
• Russia has said it is to "drastically reduce" forces near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv as its invasion continues to falter.
• Putin "must think we were born yesterday" if he thinks Britain believes his troops are pulling out of Kyiv.
• A suspected arms depot was allegedly hit by a Ukrainian missile, sparking firework-like explosions.
• Russia has reportedly lost a seventh colonel since the start of fighting in another major blow to Putin's army.
• Putin has re-opened Bond-villain style military bases deep inside the Arctic Circle.
• Chechnya's fighters arrived in Ukraine with a fearsome reputation, but have faced bloody slaughter on the battlefield, reports claim.
• Paranoid Putin and his inner circle are reportedly living in top-secret nuclear bunkers as the bloody war unfolds in Ukraine.

As reports have emerged of demoralised Russian troops retreating from parts of Ukraine, video captured the ridiculous moment a battalion was abandoned by their comrades, who sped off in a Z truck.

Drone footage shows the military vehicle speeding away up a snowy hill as two frantic soldiers chase behind it on foot.

One soldier can be seen getting close to the back of the fleeing lorry before suddenly slipping and face-planting in the thick snow.

Although the footage hasn't been independently verified, reports in Ukraine say the Russian unit was fleeing members of the 93rd Mechanised Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces when the clip was filmed.

The clip was ridiculed by the Centre for Strategic Communications for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"Another myth that 'the second army of the world does not leave behind its own' is debunked," the Ukrainian agency said.

RUSSIA’S SLAIN COMMANDERS

Putin’s top brass killed since the invasion of Ukraine:

• Major Dmitry Toptun
• Major Alexey Osokin
• Lieutenant General Andrei Mordvichev
• Major General Vitaly Gerasimov
• Major General Andrei Kolesnikov
• Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky
• Colonel Nikolay Ovcharenko
• Colonel Sergei Porokhyna
• Colonel Sergei Sukharev
• Colonel Andrei Zakharov
• Colonel Konstantin Zizevsky
• Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Agarkov
• Lieutenant Colonel Denis Glebov
• Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Safronov
• Major Viktor Maksimchuk
• General Magomed Tushaev
• Colonel Alexei Sharov
• Colonel Yuri Medvedev
• Colonel Denis Kurilo
• Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Kornik

In another dramatic scene, a video captured the moment Russian tanks were annihilated by Ukrainian forces, sending the driver frantically running for his life.

Shocking footage shows smoke billowing from the vehicles as they erupt into fireballs following a suspected mortar strike.

In the first clip, a Russian T-72 tank can be seen slowly moving before being obliterated by the Ukrainian army.

As plumes of black smoke fill the sky, a terrified Russian soldier can be spotted emerging from within before scurrying away.

Further footage shows another Russian tank exploding after being carefully targeted by Ukrainian troops – sparking a blaze amid a cloud of thick black smoke.

Putin has damaged himself through a series of catastrophic misjudgements

Amid chaotic scenes, Russia's forces are sabotaging their own weapons and disobeying their commander's orders, according to a UK spy chief.

Planes have been accidentally downed by friendly fire, while Russia's "command and control is in chaos," GCHQ boss Sir Jeremy Fleming said this week.

He also said Putin's fearful generals were too scared to reveal the true extent of battlefield losses from their president.

Intercepted phone calls, messages and emails reveal mutiny and anger among the very top Russian commanders.

Sir Jeremy told an audience in Canberra, Australia: "We know Putin's campaign is beset by problems – low morale, logistical failures and high Russian casualty numbers. We've seen Putin lie to his own people in an attempt to hide military incompetence.

"We've seen Russian soldiers – short of weapons and morale – refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft."

While as Russian troops beat a hasty retreat, it's been reported that incompetent Russian generals have put their soldiers' lives at risk, while also threatening millions in Europe.

Yesterday, Russian soldiers allegedly retreated from the Chernobyl nuclear site, which was captured in the opening days of the war.

It later emerged that dozens of Russian troops had been rushed out with radiation sickness after digging trenches in the contaminated forests around the nuclear plant.

Seven buses of Putin's soldiers suffering from acute radiation syndrome were taken directly from the exclusion zone created after the 1986 nuclear disaster to a hospital in Belarus.

Russian troops allegedly dug trenches in the highly toxic Red Forest zone, according to the UNIAN News Agency.

While according to workers at the site, Russian soldiers drove their tanks and armoured vehicles through the radioactive area without any protection, kicking up clouds of toxic dust.

Their actions were branded "suicidal" by a Chernobyl employee, as the dust they inhaled was likely to cause internal radiation in their bodies.

The head of Britain's armed forces has claimed that Putin has already "lost" his war in Ukraine, thanks to a series of "catastrophic misjudgements".

Speaking at an event hosted by the Institute for Government think tank, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin claimed Russian officers had taken their soldiers into combat without them realising, a tactic he described as "insane" and "morally bankrupt".

"Far from being the far-sighted manipulator of events that he would have us believe," he said, "Putin has damaged himself through a series of catastrophic misjudgements."

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However, David Williams, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence, warned against any complacency and said he was worried about Putin's reaction to losing any ground in Ukraine.

An "unpredictable and disappointed Putin is dangerous," he added.

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