Putin-decorated general accused of drug trafficking killed in Ukraine

A high-ranking Russian general personally decorated by Russian President Vladimir Putin has been killed in Ukraine.

TodayPress TV reports, citing Russian media, that Lieutenant General Sergey Milchakov, commander of the 51st Army of the Southern Military District, was killed in a missile strike on an army headquarters.

Milchakov was reportedly involved in planning and organizing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022. In 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally awarded him the honorary title of “Hero of Russia.”

The general’s name had previously been linked to various controversial allegations. In early 2025, Ukrainian media and OSINT investigators, citing leaked data, alleged that a shadow network involved in selling drugs to Russian servicemen was operating within the 51st Army under Milchakov’s command.

Those investigations also alleged that servicemen who opposed corruption and human trafficking were sent on operations resulting in heavy losses, known as “meat assaults.”

Milchakov was also accused of organizing cigarette smuggling to the front using ammunition boxes and selling the cigarettes to servicemen at inflated prices.

According to private correspondence allegedly obtained through hacker attacks and cited in OSINT investigations, the general was also accused of using his rank for personal purposes and coercing female servicemen under his command into sexual relations in exchange for promises of unofficial positions and promotions.

At the beginning of 2026, reports emerged that Milchakov had been removed from his post following an unsuccessful assault in the Dobropillia direction that resulted in numerous casualties and losses of armored vehicles.

No official statement has yet been issued on the details of the general’s death or the consequences of the missile strike.

Jala Rovshan