Major General Ivan Popov commanded Russia’s 58th Combined Arms Army.
A Russian army general said he was fired for telling the truth about the war in Ukraine and the conditions of front-line troops.
According to audio released by a Russian lawmaker, the revelation came from Major General Ivan Popov, who commands the 58th Combined Armed Forces in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhia region.
The news comes as the future of the mercenaries remains uncertain and the course of the war in Ukraine remains uncertain, more than two weeks after the uprising was crushed by the Russian military.
An armed soldier stands guard during a funeral ceremony to bury the remains of sixty soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces and three civilians.
Photo credit: Reuters
according to NBC News, Popov appears to say that he was removed from his post for telling the truth in an audio message that was intended for his soldiers but was posted on Telegram on Wednesday by politician and former deputy commander of Russia’s Southern Military Command, Andrei Gurulev.
“I called things by their right names and focused on the most important thing—the tragedy of modern warfare. It’s the lack of counter-battery combat, reconnaissance, massive injuries to our brothers from enemy artillery,” Popov said. According to the audio clip.
Gurulev, a member of Russia’s largest party, United Russia, did not say how he obtained the recording.
According to a news agency report ReutersMajor General Ivan Popov said the failure of top military commanders was behind Russian troops.
“The Ukrainian army could not break our ranks in front, but our senior leader hit us from behind and brutally beheaded the army at the most difficult and desperate moment,” he said in an audio message.
Popov, with the military call sign “Spartacus,” the commander of Russian units in southern Ukraine, clearly raised the death toll of Russian soldiers from Ukrainian artillery, saying the army lacked proper defensive artillery systems and surveillance of enemy artillery.
There was no immediate comment from the Defense Ministry, and Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the voice message. Lawmaker Gurulyov is a hardline former military commander who regularly appears on state television.