Russian General Anton Grounis killed by Ukrainian drones in eastern Ukraine

Ukrainian drone forces on Saturday killed Major General Anton Grounis, commander of the 4th motorized rifle brigade of the Southern grouping of the Russian army in eastern Ukraine. The announcement was made on Wednesday by the commander of Ukraine's drone forces (SBS), Robert "Madyar" ("the Hungarian") Brovdi, just over two weeks after the general was awarded the title "Hero of Russia" for his role in the war.

Robert Brovdi claimed that one of his units killed Anton Grounis during a nighttime strike against his position in the Russian-controlled part of the Donetsk oblast. “Major General Grunis was eliminated on September 12” in Kindrativka, he wrote on Telegram on Wednesday, specifying that he was the seventh Russian military commander killed by its drone forces. “This time, the “birds” [drones] of the 427th SBS Raroh Brigade operated with masterful precision,” he added.

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A “man who fights brilliantly”

If the Russian Defense Ministry does not systematically announce the death of senior military officials on the front, General Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Russian special forces unit Akhmat, confirmed on Telegram that he “died a hero, having fulfilled his sacred duty to the end”. General Anton Grounis received the Gold Star associated with the title of “Hero of Russia”, one of the country’s highest distinctions, at the end of August, during a ceremony during which he appeared in the first row of a series of officers in ceremonial uniform.

On July 3, Anton Grunis reported to Vladimir Putin, by videoconference during a security meeting broadcast on Russian television, of the claimed capture of Kostiantynivka, an assertion disputed by kyiv and by independent military analysts. The master of the Kremlin then congratulated him, declaring that “luck favors those who do the work” and praising a “man who fights brilliantly”.

At the time, Ukraine denied the capture of Kostiantynivka by Russian forces and assured that it retained control of the city. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American research center specializing in conflicts, estimated that Russian forces had infiltrated there without having completely seized it. According to the institute, the Russian claim was part of a broader information campaign aimed at “presenting Ukraine’s front lines as collapsing.”