Russia fired two generals last week as Moscow’s Defense Ministry reportedly continues to purge its top officers, pointing to the growing chaos within the military leadership after an aborted mutiny by Wagner’s mercenary group.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu this week froze Major General Vladimir Seliverstov, commander of the Tula airborne division, in accordance with the Belarusian news site Charter97.
The governor of the Tula region, which borders Moscow, Alexei Dyumin, tried to defend Seliverstov, who was collaborating within the fighting at Bakhmut, but to no avail, in accordance with a Russian publication VChK-OGPU.
Seliverstov’s reported shooting comes days after Major General Ivan Popov was fired after a taped tirade he delivered against the Russian government during which he raised issues of high casualty rates and lack of artillery support, echoing the themes of some published tirades by Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin within the weeks leading as much as last month’s short-lived rise up.
Popov, 48, claimed in a voice recording published by Russian politician Andrew Gurulov that he had been fired as head of the 58th Combined Army in retaliation for the criticism.
“I had no right to lie on behalf of you, on behalf of my fallen comrades-in-arms, so I outlined all the issues that existed,” he said within the recording.
![Major General Vladimir Seliverstov was removed as commander of the 106th Tula Airborne Division.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000014099382.jpg)
“The Ukrainian army couldn’t break through our ranks on the front, but our senior commander struck us from behind, brutally cutting down the military at essentially the most difficult and intense moment,” he continued.
Popov also said that it was Shoigu who approved his dismissal.
“Senior commanders apparently sensed some danger from me and quickly got here up with an order from the Minister of Defense in only sooner or later and got rid of me,” he said.
In accordance with the British Ministry of Defence, Popov’s dismissal also indicates the growing reluctance of Russian officers towards the best authorities in Moscow.
“Popov’s comments highlight the intense dissatisfaction that many officers are prone to have toward senior military command,” the agency said in an intelligence release on Saturday.
“Direct criticism from subordinates is prone to turn out to be an increasing problem for Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Gen. [Valery] Gerasimov,” the agency added.
The high-profile crisis got here as Russia lost two more generals within the war last week, bringing the entire number of battle dead to 10.
Among the many Russian commanders suffered, amongst others: Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov, who was killed on July 11 in an attack on a hotel for military commanders in Berdyansk on the occupied southern coast of Ukraine, reported the BBC.
Tsokov was deputy commander of Russia’s southern military district, and the state media channel Rossiya-1 reported that he was killed by a Storm Shadow missile that was given to Ukraine by Britain.
The subsequent day, Major General Sergei Goryachev, chief of staff of Russia’s thirty fifth Army, was killed by a Ukrainian missile strike on the Zaporizhia front, where Ukrainian forces are gaining ground in a counter-offensive.