He disappeared... Russia's shaken by an announcement - is he dead?

Gerasimov was not seen in public for several weeks, raising suspicions that the general was dead.
Unverified rumors of his death began to circulate in the public after social media users shared a photo purportedly showing a message posted by a Russian Telegram channel.
"Gerasimov, who was at the command post near Sevastopol at the time of the attack, was killed in the attack on Crimea," the message states.
However, it was announced that the mentioned channel on Telegram did not exist at the time of the message's publication, but the fact that the Kremlin was silent all the time caused suspicion.
In an article titled "Where is General Gerasimov and why does it matter?" published last week in the Kyiv Post, retired US Army Colonel Jonathan Sweet and former economist Mark Toth wrote that while the question is whether Gerasimov is dead, his absence from the public scene and Moscow's silence about his current status are "interesting".
"It is strange that the Kremlin did not respond to the rumors that he was killed in Crimea, considering how far it went in denying the death of its commander Admiral Viktor Sokolov immediately after the missile attack on the Black Sea Fleet on September 22 last year. Continued silence in the Kremlin potentially speaks," they state in the text.
After the failed rebellion of the Wagner paramilitary group, it was noted that Gerasimov did not appear in public, state media and press releases.
The head of the "Wagner" paramilitary formation, Yevgeny Prigozhin, launched a rebellion and demanded the immediate dismissal of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gerasimov. Shortly after the uprising, the ministry then released a video showing Gerasimov listening to a report, his first public appearance since...