A Kremlin-installed leader has suggested Sergei Shoigu, Russia's defence minister and one of Vladimir Putin's closest allies, should shoot himself because of failures in the Ukraine conflict.

Kirill Stremouso, deputy head of the annexed Kherson region, poured scorn on Moscow's generals in a highly rare public rebuke of its top brass.

In a four-minute 

 video message, he said: "Indeed, many say: if they were a defence minister who had allowed such a state of affairs, they could, as officers, have shot themselves.

"But you know the word 'officer' is an incomprehensible wold for many.

He praised Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's recent criticism of Moscow's generals after Kyiv recaptured the strategically important eastern town of Lyman.

"Let's say this: The ministry of defence does not only consist of ministers, generals, corrupt marauders and other various scum, but all those heroes who gave their lives today, who stand to the end," he added.