The Ukrainian military is alleged to have attempted to take out Vladimir Putin’s top general despite opposition from the United States. The Russian chief of the general staff, General Valery Gerasimov is reported to have been the target of an assassination plot as he visited the frontline. American authorities are said to have warned Kyiv that taking out Gerasimov would seriously escalate the conflict. A US official told the New York Times: “We told them not to do it,” a senior American official told the New York Times. “We were like, ‘Hey, that’s too much’.” According to the New York Times, the Ukrainian military had notified the US in response to the warning that an attempt on Gerasimov’s life had already been made.