After his release, the general railed against the Russian military leadership.
(Photo: dpa)
Vienna After the domestic political tide has calmed down somewhat after the Wagner mutiny, the Russian armed forces are gripped by a new wave of excitement. It was triggered by the dismissal of Major General Ivan Popov – and by his reaction: the commander of the 58th Army expressed severe criticism of the army leadership in an audio message to his subordinates.
He described the problems of the combat units to the leadership: “These are the lack of counter-battery fire and reconnaissance as well as the mass death of our brothers at the hands of enemy artillery.” He also asked Chief of Staff Valeri Gerasimov to replace units with heavy losses.
Instead of listening to him, according to the 48-year-old officer, the leadership arranged for Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to be dismissed. “The enemy could not drive out our army,” says Popov in the recording. “But our top commander deals us a treacherous and insidious blow in the back. He beheads the army at the most difficult and tense moment.”
The scathing words about Gerasimov reveal deep rifts within the top army leadership. It is true that Popov’s speech was not intended for the public, but only for a closed telegram channel by members of the 58th Army. However, this is a large group of people.
The Chairman of the Defense Committee assured that Popov’s words were understood and that the issues raised were being resolved. However, these problems are neither new nor can they be solved quickly.
Growing supply gaps in the Russian army
The lack of rotation of exhausted troops has to do with the high Russian losses and the lack of personnel. More surprising is the alleged artillery inferiority mentioned by Popov.
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The criticism could point to growing supply gaps in the Zaporizhia region, for which Popov was responsible. Ukraine is attempting to create such gaps by attacking inland logistics hubs.
The dismissal coincided with the killing of Popov’s deputy Oleg Zokov by a Ukrainian missile on Tuesday night. With several divisions and brigades, the 58th Army is one of the largest and most powerful formations in the Russian armed forces.
Ukraine is trying to cut off supplies to the Russian armed forces.
(Photo: AP)
It stands at those points on the southern front where the largest attacks as part of the Ukrainian counter-offensive have so far taken place. A weakening of unity would therefore be particularly sensitive for Russia.
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Russian commentators, especially from the army-related area, are concerned about the effect of Popov’s dismissal on troop motivation. The war correspondent Roman Saponkov called it a “monstrous act of terror against the morale of the military”. The erratic but well-connected ultranationalist Igor Girkin even spoke of the possibility of another uprising and a collapse of the army.
The parallel to the criticism of mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin is obvious. Prigozhin had criticized the army leadership and demanded more support. When that didn’t happen, he occupied a Russian town and headed towards Moscow with his Wagner group. Popov now addressed the same omissions that Prigozhin had spoken of.
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