Olga "Kursa" Kachura has reportedly been killed in a missile strike in Ukraine, making her the first female Russian colonel to be killed since the war began in late February.
Known by many as Russian President Vladimir Putin's "she-wolf," Kachura, 52, was killed when a Ukrainian missile hit her car as she was driving in the city of Horlivka, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, according to Margarita Simonyan, the pro-Kremlin editor of RT. Horlivka's mayor Ivan Prikhodko also confirmed the death via Telegram, calling Kachura a "brave and wise woman."
Kachura has been accused of killing civilians in the eastern Donbas region, the flashpoint of the war.
The mother of two was granted a posthumous Hero of Russia honor, the Kremlin's highest award, for "'for her courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty."
She was a lieutenant colonel in Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the 97th known colonel to be killed in the Ukraine war. Kachura has previously boasted on pro-Kremlin channels that she especially enjoys killing Ukrainians.
Speaking on an RT documentary, she alluded to her nickname. "She guards the hearth, her children, her family. Even in nature, no wolf will defend her cub as aggressively as a she-wolf."
Ukraine's armed forces said that Kachura would often disguise herself as Ukrainian military to commit war crimes in order to discredit them.
Kachura served in Horlivka police where she worked as an investigator until 2014, before serving in 3rd separate motorized rifle bridge Berkut of the 1st Army Corps of the DPR. She commanded a Grad MLRS division in Horlivka, leading a team of around 140 gunners.
"Kachura was guilty of the shelling of the cities of Donbas and the deaths of civilians,' according to Ukrainian journalist Denis Kazanskyi. 'In Ukraine, she was sentenced to 12 years in prison in absentia."
Newsweek has contacted Russia's defense ministry for comment.
Putin announced the invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Thousands of people have died in the fighting, including many civilians, and millions have been displaced.
The fighting began with the Russian army focusing on taking the capital Kyiv, but the Ukrainians put up a fierce resistance and the conflict has mainly moved to the eastern Donbas region, as well as the south close to the Black Sea, in cities like Kherson. The Kherson region was taken by Russian forces in early March but Ukrainian troops are mounting a counter-offensive.
