Turmoil continued to engulf the leadership ranks of the Russian military nearly three weeks after a failed mutiny, posing new distractions and risks for Moscow’s forces as they try to fend off a Ukrainian counteroffensive. The latest sign of disarray emerged with the release late Wednesday of a four-minute recording in which a top Russian general, fired from his post commanding troops on the critical Zaporizhzhia front, accused the military leadership of inflicting a blow on his forces at a challenging time. Major Gen. Ivan Popov said he was removed as retribution for voicing the truth about battlefield problems to senior leadership behind closed doors, including a lack of counter battery and artillery reconnaissance capabilities, as well as excessive deaths and injuries that Russian troops were suffering on the battlefield.
“We were hit in the rear by our senior commander, who treacherously and vilely decapitated our army at the most difficult and tense momen,”General Popov said in farewell talk to his troops, a recording of which was released by a Russian lawmaker. The dismissal came as recriminations have reverberated through the ranks of the Russian military in the aftermath of a failed June 24 mutiny by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The Wall Street Journal reported that at least 13 senior Russian officers had been detained for questioning in the days since the insurrection, with some later released, and around 15 had been suspended from duty or fired. The fired general’s remarks added to a picture of internal discontent with the battlefield leadership of Gen Valery Gerasimov, who was tapped by the Kremlin in January to replace General Sergei Surovikin and lead the war effort in Ukraine.
“We were hit in the rear by our senior commander, who treacherously and vilely decapitated our army at the most difficult and tense momen,”General Popov said in farewell talk to his troops, a recording of which was released by a Russian lawmaker. The dismissal came as recriminations have reverberated through the ranks of the Russian military in the aftermath of a failed June 24 mutiny by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The Wall Street Journal reported that at least 13 senior Russian officers had been detained for questioning in the days since the insurrection, with some later released, and around 15 had been suspended from duty or fired. The fired general’s remarks added to a picture of internal discontent with the battlefield leadership of Gen Valery Gerasimov, who was tapped by the Kremlin in January to replace General Sergei Surovikin and lead the war effort in Ukraine.