Russian General Who Led Capture of Ukraine's Kostiantynivka Has Died

Major General Apti Alaudinov, deputy chief of the Russian Defense Ministry's ideological arm and commander of the Akhmat special forces, announced on Wednesday that Major General Anton Grunis had died. Alaudinov called Grunis a hero who had carried out his "sacred duty," but did not disclose when or how he died.

Grunis commanded the 4th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade of Russia's Armed Forces, a unit that played a central role in Russia's offensive in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. In July, Grunis personally briefed President Vladimir Putin on the capture of Kostiantynivka, one of four heavily fortified cities forming Ukraine's so-called "fortress belt" in Donetsk.

Grunis had previously boasted that his troops "sliced up the city like a pie," outflanking Ukrainian defensive lines along local reservoirs. In August, Putin awarded him the Hero of Russia medal, the country's highest state honor. Back in 2023, Putin had already praised him as a commander "with a Lithuanian last name, born in Kazan, who fights brilliantly."

The fall of Kostiantynivka this summer was seen as a significant Russian gain in the battle for Donbas, as the city served as one of Ukraine's key defensive strongholds in the region.