Russian Major General Andrei Sukhovetskiy was killed by a sniper in Ukraine on Thursday. 

This comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that Russia had lost about 9,000 of its soldiers. The death of Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky is the first of a high-ranking officer in the Russian ranks. 

The news, in addition to official sources, was also confirmed by his friend who announced through social media that Sukhovetsky had been killed. Sergey Chipilev wrote: 

"We learned with great pain the tragic news of the death of our friend, Major General Andrey Sukhovetsky, in the territory of Ukraine during the special operation. We express our deepest condolences to his family." 

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine on Wednesday had said that more than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed so far during the ongoing invasion of Russia. On the other hand, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stated that peace talks between the two countries do not mean military operations in Ukraine will stop. 

Meanwhile, Ukraine has banned payment cards issued by banks of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has banned lending funds to the accounts of natural customers - clients for transfers initiated using payment cards issued by Russian and Belarusian banks. The NBU also banned the acceptance of payment cards, in Ukraine, issued by banks of Russian and Belarusian origin, including transfers, repayments and withdrawals of money.