VLADIMIR Putin has purged his top general over a mass loss of troops in Ukraine as Russia's losses are now said to be as high as 50,000. Colonel-General Andrey Serdyukov, 60, was ditched for the devastating “mass casualties” among Putin's elite paratroopers, it has been alleged. The speculation comes as a Russian source is said to have suggested the country’s overall losses in Ukraine are close to 50,000 - significantly higher than most other estimates.