A Russian basic who criticized the nation’s Ministry of Protection could quickly be reinstated to the entrance strains of the warfare in Ukraine this week, based on a report from CNN.
Common Main Ivan Popov as soon as commanded Russia’s 58th Army earlier than being sidelined, accused of fraud, and detained after blasting Russian army management in 2023. His lawyer and the Ministry of Protection known as for him to be put accountable for considered one of Russia’s notorious detachments of ex-convicts, forces which have sustained huge casualties within the warfare in opposition to Ukraine.
“We, along with the Ministry of Protection, have a movement to droop on the case… with the optimistic choice to ship Ivan to [Ukraine],” the lawyer, Sergei Buinovsky, mentioned, based on Russian media.
Popov revealed an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, asking the chief to reinstate him to army service with a view to droop his felony trial.
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Main Common Ivan Popov, former commander of Russia’s 58th military, arrested on suspicion of fraud, attends a listening to on the army courtroom in Moscow, Russia, on Could 27, 2024. (REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina)
Former protection intelligence officer and creator of “Putin’s Playbook” Rebekah Koffler says Putin could intervene within the case to make sure Popov is deployed to Ukraine.
“Putin routinely weighs in on high-profile instances, particularly when Western media is concerned,” Koffler advised Fox Information Digital on Tuesday.
“Putin is unpredictable – he could resolve to let the method run its course and have Popov serve a jail sentence or he could resolve to ship him into the meat grinder in Ukraine and serve the ‘Russian motherland,’ making a propaganda case out of it, since Popov requested for it,” she added.
The task to a penal detachment is arguably a dying sentence, nevertheless, as Russia’s army has routinely used ex-convict forces to conduct near-suicidal missions within the war against Ukraine, resulting in excessive casualty charges.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin reassigned Popov this week. (Aleksey Babushkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photograph)
“I used to be subjected to unjust prosecution,” Popov wrote in his letter to Putin. “I want to proceed smashing the enemy in accordance with the oath I took.”
Popov’s lawyer, Sergei Buinovskiy, advised Russian media that Popov “was grateful for the belief the president has positioned in him.”
As commander of Russia’s 58th Military, Popov was accountable for a power of almost 50,000 troops. The detachment he might quickly lead possible numbers within the tons of, nevertheless.
Ukrainian troopers stand close to destroyed Russian tanks in Izium, Ukraine, on Sept. 20, 2022. (REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)
On the head of the 58th Military, Popov gained recognition with front-line troops by repelling a Ukrainian counter-attack that relied closely on tanks supplied by NATO countries. He then blasted Russia’s prime commanders for permitting Ukraine’s preliminary breakthrough.
“The armed forces of Ukraine couldn’t break via our military from the entrance, [but] our senior commander hit us from the rear, treacherously and vilely decapitating the military on the most troublesome and tense second,” Popov mentioned of Russian army chief-of-staff Valery Gerasimov on the time.
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Popov was quickly reassigned to Syria earlier than fraud expenses landed him in courtroom. He denied wrongdoing and retained many allies in Moscow who shared his criticisms of Russian army management.
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