Major General Ivan Popov, commander of the 58th army which is ported in a war region in Ukraine is said to have been removed from his post yesterday. He said that he has been removed after talking about the bleak conditions of the army in the fronts with other military leaders. According to a voice message by him which was published by a Russian Lawmaker. Along with that, Maj General Ivan also said that he could’ve either kept quiet and be a coward or talk about it the way that it actually is.
The commander said that the dismissal was approved by the defense minister of Russia after it was demanded by a military leader who he accused of treason. He had also blamed the decisions from senior chiefs which allegedly caused a lot of deaths in his troops.
After the recording was released, the Ministry of Defense did not release any statements regarding to it and the authenticity of the voice mail is yet to be verified. The location from where the General recorded this message and his whereabouts are unknown, the ministry also did not say anything about the dismissal. However, if it is actually authentic, this would only prove the dissatisfaction among the military regarding the decisions taken from their leadership as this is just weeks after the failed Wagner Mutiny.
In the Wagner Mutiny, the Wagner leader’s actions were a direct challenge to Putin’s leadership even though the main problems of the Wagner group also included their dissatisfaction in the top military brass of Russia as they continuously bashed the Russian Defense Minister and the Military General. Their mutiny and the march towards Moscow also included their wish to bring the defense minister and Army General to justice.
However, after this mutiny was put to a stop due to the negotiations done between the Wagner Leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and Belarusian President Lukashenko, Putin neither dismissed the defense minister nor the Army general. But there was some shuffling done among the top military ranks. Along with that two of their military commanders have not been in public view after that day. This includes Deputy Commander Sergei Surovikin who was accused of knowing about the mutiny before it started. He supposedly had very good connections with the Wagner leader Prigozhin and was also interviewed by the Russian authorities about this matter. There have been reports of his arrest however those are not confirmed by the Kremlin.
Wagner Leader Prigozhin was not seen in public as well after the failed mutiny and his locations are currently unknown. Although according to the deal which was brokered by Belarus President Lukashenko, he was supposed to be in Belarus. It was earlier confirmed that he is in Belarus but after a meeting between the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Wagner commanders which was also attended by Prigozhin, his location was unclear again and the Belarus President said that the whereabouts of Prigozhin are unknown.Â
