Earthquake in the Kremlin
According to Iran Gate, Russian commanders have spent fiery and long nights in recent weeks, amidst suspensions and dismissals, wandering and hanging, which is actually the result and consequence of their role in the Wagner Group uprising.
In recent days, it seemed that some senior officers are in harmony and consensus with the purge. The Wall Street Journal reported the arrest of 13 officers and the suspension and dismissal of 15 people due to major betrayal, among whom General Ivan Popov and Suruvikin are among the most well-known officers.
There are many commanders who are in agreement with Wagner and do not want to follow President Vladimir Putin. According to Alexei Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, in the past week, the exact number of these commanders is fourteen.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, thirteen officers have been arrested, including Mikhail Mizintsev, also known as the Mariupol Butcher, who is considered to be close to private Wagner paramilitary personnel. Fifteen others have been suspended or dismissed due to their involvement in a major betrayal. This incident undoubtedly signifies more than just an internal rift within the Russian army. While we don’t know the names of all the disgraced officers, this list certainly includes Sergei Shoigu, the Russian Defense Minister, Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of Staff of the Army, and Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Chechen forces, who are at the top of the list of mercenaries and their leader, Prigozhin.
According to Moscow, at least one person on that list is Sergei Surkov, who is said to be on leave. However, this interpretation from the Kremlin is not very reliable. There aren’t many options left, either with the Tzars or against them, and therefore the fate of this second group, in fact, will remain shrouded in mystery and secrets.
News related to senior army officers are increasingly concerning. Stanislav Zhitsky, a Navy captain, was shot seven times in the back during his daily running exercises. Russian sources claimed that Ukraine was involved in his death, and this claim was reinforced by a video released by the Ukrainian intelligence agency a day before his killing, in which they threatened that the countdown for punishment had begun.
However, due to the Kremlin’s track record of settling scores with opponents, this claim has been somewhat questioned. It is also said that the threat from the head of Ukrainian intelligence was related to the killing of Army General Oleg Tsukov, who was hit by a long-range missile in a hotel in Berdyansk, Ukraine.
However, the man of the day is General Ivan Popov, who announced his resignation from his position after reporting a critical situation on the Ukrainian front and condemning the weak management of operations in Ukraine to the senior military authorities in Moscow. This disagreement was revealed by him, who was the commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army, through a 4-minute audio message delivered by Andrei Gorolov, a representative of the parliament with nationalist positions. In this audio message, Popov claims that the Ukrainians could not pass our lines, but instead we were stabbed in the back by our leaders.
This general referred to the shortage of ammunition in response to enemy attacks and the weakness in identification operations due to the low number of drones or their neutralization by enemy actions. He then confessed to the heavy losses suffered by the Russian army and emphasized that these are not new points and have been previously reported by numerous witnesses from the southern front. In his reports, the senior leaders are still under scrutiny for his accusations.
Your choice is only between two options: staying silent and saying what they want to hear, or speaking the truth about what is really happening and the issues that truly exist. Out of respect for all the Russian soldiers killed in this war, I cannot lie. In addition to all these mentioned issues, a Telegram channel close to the Wagner Group has also mentioned another point, which is the lack of rotation for the forces who have been engaged in the front lines for a long time.
Ivan Popov did not limit himself to just this voice message, but during an interview with Chief of Staff Valery Grasimov, he clearly and openly discussed all the problems and deficiencies in the war front. This meeting took place in Bryansk, a city that was targeted by a long-range cruise missile attack the day after the interview, carried out by a British warship. This missile attack could have resulted in the deaths of many individuals, including Commander Oleg Tsukov.
In the past week, Russia reiterated its assurance by releasing a message insisting on providing visual evidence of the situation being normal. It announced that the private paramilitary group Wagner, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, has delivered a significant amount of weaponry, including around 200 armored vehicles. This claim could serve as evidence that the agreement signed with the mediation of Belarus is being implemented. However, no one has a precise and clear idea of what is happening behind the walls of the Kremlin in terms of confidential communications and potential deals.
This action cannot be equated with a possible failed coup by Ivan Popov, as he was a commander leading a part of a legal system and the official army. If his statements, if valid, can have consequences among his colleagues, as they highlight common issues that seemingly have never been addressed by the superiors in an attempt to resolve them.
Another commander whose fate remains unknown is Suruvikin, who disappeared after appearing in a video during the uprising of the Wagner paramilitary forces, in which he requested his Prigozhin soldiers to stop. A member of parliament commented on his absence, stating that the senior officer is currently on leave and unavailable. This statement did not dispel doubts and suspicions about his dismissal or even arrest, as many perceive him to be closely associated with the Wagner insurgents.
The Wall Street Journal considers it likely that this commander is detained but not in prison. The same fate is predicted for other high-ranking officers, including General Mikhail Mizintsev, former deputy defense minister and executioner Mariupol, as well as General Andrey Yudin and military intelligence officer Vladimir Alexiev, who were released after a few days of interrogation.
Despite all the criticisms of the management of the war in Ukraine and everything that should have led to the dismissal of Shoigu and Gerasimov, it appears that their positions have strengthened more than ever. In other words, their positions have become even more solid alongside Vladimir Putin.
But they were not the only ones who benefited from the chaos caused by the protests. Another individual, Viktor Zolotov, the former head of the National Guard and Putin’s personal bodyguard, offered Alexei Navalny to fight in the judo ring on a mat. In the tense hours of June 24, he asked his men to defend Moscow and resist to the point of death if necessary.
American expert Dana Masiko reminds us that Sergei Surkov is a credible figure who has always followed Putin. This could force the Kremlin to make cautious decisions without emotional reactions in the near future. The Wall Street Journal explains that Vladimir Putin has not yet made a decision about the actions to be taken.
According to analysts, the hierarchy with ups and downs in critical moments is a common practice, especially if political organizations are forced to leave tough tests on the battlefield and behind the scenes of Moscow’s political arena. Scheming, ambition, and divisive tactics are prevalent in absolute governments.
However, while real cleansings bring along many hypothetical crises, especially when one claims to be an absolute leader, we have heard similar stories before about Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Bashar al-Assad, Kim, and their potential treacherous advisors and possible diseases. Real news mixed with psychological warfare operations.
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