Gerasimov, the top leader of the Russian military, has not been seen for several days, sparking speculation in the West that he may have been killed in an airstrike in Ukraine. Although the Russian side has not yet officially responded, Ukraine has rarely denied this claim. The commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Oreshchuk, publicly declared on social networks that the Ukrainian army carried out a missile strike on a Russian airfield in Crimea, destroying a Russian military command center. The Russian Ministry of Defense then responded that it had successfully shot down four missiles fired by Ukrainian forces over the Crimea region. This response shows that the Russian side is also actively countering and the conflict between the opposing sides is escalating. Recently, both Ukraine and Russia have stepped up their strikes against long-range targets, especially those in depth of each other.
The Crimean Peninsula has been attacked by the Ukrainian army for many days, especially on the afternoon of January 4, local time, when a number of military facilities of the Russian military in Crimea were severely hit in a large-scale attack launched by the Ukrainian army. At the same time, since Gerasimov has not been seen in public for several days and his whereabouts are unknown, news about "Gerasimov was killed in the attack on the Crimea" began to spread rapidly on social networks and news **. The Russian authorities declined to comment on the news, which may have been a rumor, while the Ukrainian authorities have taken a different attitude than before. The spokesman for Ukraine's Southern Operational Command, Gumaniuk, hinted that they were gathering evidence to confirm whether Gerasimov was killed in the attack.
The head of the Ukrainian military intelligence service, Budanov, also responded clearly that there is currently no evidence that the attack of the Ukrainian soldiers resulted in the injury or death of Gerasimov. Yusov, a spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, also denied that the news about whether Gerasimov was killed in the attack of Ukrainian soldiers on the 4th has not been confirmed, and the authorities are verifying the relevant information. In addition, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Volunteer Army "South" Brachuk also said that this news should be false. Gerasimov is known as the "first fierce general" of the current Russian military and is the de facto supreme commander. If the Ukrainian soldiers really succeeded in "beheading" Gerasimov, they would probably spread the news. The Ukrainian side's repeated denials show that this information is not true.
The United States has issued a clear warning to Ukraine, asking them not to carry out "decapitation operations" against Russia's military or political top brass, especially not to use the best equipment provided by the West. It is conceivable that the Ukrainian military did not dare to take risks in this regard.