Vladimir Putin has ‘purged’ up to three more generals while eliminating alleged enemies and traitors among his high command, according to Telegram reports.
If confirmed, the total number of dismissed, suspended, arrested or disappeared is brought up to 11.
It would also mean that Putin and his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, and his ally General Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s highest-ranking soldier, feel they are facing a mass mutiny in the high command as they seek to fight Ukraine’s counteroffensive. .
Telegram channel Verum Regnum commented on the Bloody Sunday killings, saying: ‘Right now, the fate of the army is being decided, and then the fate of the country.
‘If the military officers succeed in concentrating their power, trampling all buds of initiative and professional honor in the troops, destroying the last born heroes [in the conflict against Ukraine]the inglorious end of the war is near.
Airborne Forces Commander Mikhail Teplinsky, left, pictured with Vladimir Putin during his spring 2023 visit to the currently occupied Lugansk region of Ukraine.
Reports indicate that 46-year-old Major General Alexander Kornev (pictured) has been removed from command of the 7th Airborne Assault Division.
Another military-related channel called Two Majors reported: “We consider the current situation to be extremely tense, first of all, for active troops.”
There is also seen to be a risk that at least part of the regular army will turn against Putin, as Wagner did with his armed rebellion last month.
Reports indicate that Major General Alexander Kornev, 46, has been removed from command of the 7th Airborne Assault Division.
The unconfirmed claims also suggest that the troops are trying to save Colonel General Mikhail Teplinskiy, 54, and have recorded a message threatening a paratrooper mutiny if he is detained.
“We, the paratroopers, advise that we will not tolerate this type of action in relation to General Teplinskiy,” one message read.
‘In the event of the slightest threat to his life and freedom, we will stand as a wall to protect the honor and dignity of our commander.
We are very determined. To the point that we will withdraw from our positions and go to the rescue of our [commander].’
The unconfirmed message threatened a riot, saying: “Paratroopers don’t abandon their own.”
However, it was only a few weeks ago that Gerasimov was appointed effective deputy commander of the Russian war campaign.
Separate reports say Major General Ramil Ibatullin, 46, commander of the 90th Panzer Division, and two of his aides have been detained on the pretext of financial irregularities.
In the photo: Major General Ramil Ibatullin, 46, commander of the 90th Panzer Division
Vladimir Putin, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Major General Nikolay Gostev from left to right
Major General Vladimir Seliverstov pictured with Kremlin expert Vladimir Solovyov
Andrey Gurulev, deputy of United Russia, member of the Defense committee of the State Duma, reserve lieutenant general
Major General Nikolay Gostev, Commander of the 4th Army of the Russian Air Force
An unnamed commander of the 27th Brigade is also relieved of his responsibilities, a report said.
A day earlier it was revealed that the paratroop commander, 49-year-old Major General Vladimir Seliverstov, a close ally of Teplinskiy, had been ousted.
Seliverstov is one of Russia’s youngest and most ruthless generals having headed the 106th Airborne Division operating in the meat grinder around Bakhmut, where Ukraine is now advancing.
Even the support of Putin’s former bodyguard Alexei Dyumin, governor of the Tula region and possible anointed son as the Kremlin’s successor, failed to save this general, reports say.
The reason for his removal is unknown, but it could be his “uncompromising nature”.
He is a commander ‘not accustomed to keeping quiet when defending issues of his [troops]’ said a Telegram channel linked to Wagner’s mercenary army.
Meanwhile, the notorious general Sergei ‘Armageddon’ Surovikin, 56, who has now been incommunicado for three weeks since the revolt led by Wagner’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.
He is believed to be under interrogation, and likely in jail, for siding with Prigozhin and awaiting Putin’s decision on his fate. However, the witch hunt goes further.
Major General Ivan Popov, who led Russia’s 58th Army, disappeared last week shortly after being fired.
His leaked voicemail to the troops revealed that he blamed Putin’s high command for “treacherously and basely beheading the army at the most difficult and tense moment.”
His wife said Popov, 48, had been “summoned” to an unknown location and “abruptly disappeared” after his harsh criticism of Putin’s war strategy was leaked, according to Telegram channel VChK-OGPU.
His expulsion was publicly confirmed, but his alleged detention was not.
His absence is having a major impact on Russia’s performance on the front lines, according to critics including war analyst Igor Strelkov.
Another casualty was Major General Nikolay Gostev, commander of the Russian Air Force’s 4th Army, who was at least temporarily removed from his post amid Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
Major General Nikolay Gostev, Commander of the 4th Army of the Russian Air Force
Major General Vladimir Seliverstov
Major General Vladimir Seliverstov pictured at the Victory Day parade in Red Square, Moscow, 2019. Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Seliverstov
Vladimir Putin’s bodyguard Alexei Dyuman (marked)
Alexei Dyuman with Putin
Major General Nikolay Gostev, Commander of the 4th Army of the Russian Air Force
He is reported to be “resting”, a euphemism also used to refer to Surovikin, Russia’s second-highest military commander.
The timing is strange as Gostev, 60, is in charge of protecting the Black Sea coast, including annexed Crimea and Zaporizhzhia, from Ukrainian missile attacks.
Last week, a British-supplied Storm Shadow missile killed a general known personally to Putin, Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov, 51, in Berdiansk, an area now under heavy long-range shelling.
Air force commander Colonel General Andrey Yudin, 61, is reported to have been suspended after being questioned following the Wagner armed mutiny on June 24.
The same applies to 62-year-old Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexseev, deputy head of military intelligence.
Both Yudin and Alexseev were reportedly suspended from their duties and their movements restricted.
Previously, Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, also known as the Butcher of Mariupol, was ousted in May and joined Wagner. He was the first to pay with his work. His current whereabouts are unknown amid suggestions that he has been detained.
Shoigu is also looking for a reservist, Lieutenant General Andrey Gurulev, a leading expert in pro-war propaganda, who was blamed for leaking Popov’s message and thereby humiliating Shoigu and the head of the forces. armed, General Valery Gerasimov.
So far no action has been taken against him, but it may only be a matter of time.
‘Shoigu continues to carry out ‘combat operations’ within the Defense Ministry,’ the VChK-OGPU channel reported.
Another missing general, the 11th suspect to have been targeted in the purge, is Shoigu’s close colleague and deputy defense minister, Colonel General Yunus-bek Yevkurov, 59.
He was seen talking to Prigozhin on the day of the armed riot in Rostov-on-Don. The deputy defense minister has not been seen since early July.
