Russia’s military leadership is likely to face increased criticism from subordinates, the British Ministry of Defense reported, citing The Guardian.

Russian soldiersPhoto: Kostyantyn Mikhalchevsky / Sputnik / Profimedia

The department cited the example of the dismissal of Major General Ivan Popov, who was dismissed from his post after he sharply criticized the Russian military leadership in a video clip intended for his troops that got into the media.

Popov, who commanded the 58th Combined Arms Army, which is fighting on the Ukrainian front near Zaporizhzhia, said that the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation “is hitting us from behind, maliciously decapitalizing the army at the most difficult and tense moment.”

“There was a difficult situation with the superiors, in which they had to be either silent and cowardly, or shout,” Popov said.

“I had no right to lie on behalf of you, on behalf of my fallen comrades in arms, so I exposed all the problems that there are.”

According to him, he spoke about the death of Russian soldiers from Ukrainian artillery and claimed that the military does not have proper counter-battery combat and enemy intelligence systems.

“It seems that the superiors sensed some danger from my side and quickly invented an order of the Minister of Defense in one day and got rid of me.”

“The Ukrainian army was not able to break through our ranks from the front, but our superiors hit us from behind, treacherously beheading the army at the most difficult and tense moment,” said Popov.

The British ministry said Russia had regularly fired commanders since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, but Popov’s removal was notable because “he was apparently fired because he had caused concern, not because of alleged poor performance.”

The Ministry wrote on Twitter:

Popov’s comments draw attention to the disillusionment of many officers with the top military leadership. The complaints in many ways resemble those of Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin before the June 2023 uprising.

Direct criticism from subordinates is likely to become an increasing problem for Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff General Gerasimov.

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