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A senior Russian general who leads Moscow’s forces in occupied southern Ukraine said he was suddenly removed from his post after criticizing Russia’s defense ministry.
Major General Ivan Popov, commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army active in the southern Zaporizhia region, recorded an appeal to soldiers published late Wednesday on the Telegram channel of Andrei Gurulev, a deputy in the State Duma (Russia). became lower house of parliament).
In the recording, Popov said he was fired “a day” after “outlining all the problems that exist in the army in terms of combat work and support” and voicing those criticisms to figures “at the very top.”
“A difficult situation arose with the top authorities, when we had to either remain silent and cowardly and say what they wanted to hear, or call everything by its name,” Popov said. “On behalf of you and our fallen combat friends, I had no right to lie.”
The sacking of one of Russia’s top commanders comes weeks after the Wagner Group’s dramatic and short-lived mutiny. The head of the mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has publicly and vocally criticized the Russian Defense Ministry and senior ministers in recent months, accusing them of withholding stockpiles of ammunition when the group led the Bakhmut attack.
Russia says Wagner returned tanks, missile systems, weapons and ammunition
Popov said he focused his criticism on “the most important tragedy of modern warfare”: the lack of counter-battery warfare, artillery reconnaissance stations, and the “mass deaths and injuries” of soldiers from enemy artillery.
In response to his ouster, Popov accused the Defense Ministry of “treason.”
“We were attacked from behind by our supreme commander, who treacherously and shamefully beheaded the army at the most difficult and tense moment,” he said. It was unclear which senior defense official he was referring to.
According to the Kremlin, Putin met with Wagner boss Prigozhin after the mutiny
The 58th Combined Army is headquartered in the Russian-held city of Berdyansk in southern Ukraine. Russian media reported that the base there was attacked early Tuesday and a Russian general was killed. During a talk show in Moscow on Wednesday, Duma deputy Gurulev confirmed that Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov was killed in the attack.
Tsokov is the highest-ranking Russian military officer reportedly killed in action so far. The Russian Defense Ministry has not confirmed Tsokov’s death.
“Unfortunately, he died heroically, this man deserves enormous respect,” Gurulev said during an appearance on Russia’s state propaganda program 60 Minutes.
Popov’s ouster angered Russia’s influential pro-war bloggers and pro-war activists. Many of them claimed that his removal would have a serious impact on frontline morale.
One influential blogger, Rybar, whose real name is Mikhail Zvinchuk, wrote that Popov enjoys “enormous support” from military personnel and that frontline fighters were “severely demoralized” by the news of his sacking.
“The conflict between Popov and Gerasimov highlights one thing above all: the lack of unity in the Russian armed forces,” he wrote, referring to General Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s chief of staff. “The enemy will certainly take advantage of this.”
Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova contributed to this report.
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