According to a report by CNN, there are plans to reinstate General Major Ivan Popov, a Russian general who previously criticized the Ministry of Defense, to the front lines in Ukraine this week.
General Popov, who once led Russia’s 58th Army, was sidelined, accused of fraud, and detained after speaking out against Russian military leadership in 2023. His lawyer and the Ministry of Defense have advocated for him to take command of one of Russia’s well-known units of former convicts, which have suffered significant losses in the conflict with Ukraine.
“Together with the Ministry of Defense, we have requested a suspension in the case… and a positive decision has been made to deploy Ivan to [Ukraine],” stated Sergei Buinovsky, the lawyer, as reported by Russian media.
Popov published an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, asking the leader to reinstate him to military service in order to suspend his criminal trial.
Russian President Vladimir Putin reassigned Popov this week. (Aleksey Babushkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo)
“I was subjected to unjust prosecution,” Popov wrote in his letter to Putin. “I wish to continue smashing the enemy in accordance with the oath I took.”
Popov’s lawyer, Sergei Buinovskiy, told Russian media that Popov “was grateful for the trust the president has placed in him.”
As commander of Russia’s 58th Army, Popov was in charge of a force of nearly 50,000 troops. The detachment he could soon lead likely numbers in the hundreds, however.
Ukrainian soldiers stand near destroyed Russian tanks in Izium, Ukraine, on Sept. 20, 2022. (REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)
At the head of the 58th Army, Popov gained popularity with front-line troops by repelling a Ukrainian counter-attack that relied heavily on tanks provided by NATO countries. He then blasted Russia’s top commanders for allowing Ukraine’s initial breakthrough.
“The armed forces of Ukraine could not break through our army from the front, [but] our senior commander hit us from the rear, treacherously and vilely decapitating the army at the most difficult and tense moment,” Popov said of Russian military chief-of-staff Valery Gerasimov at the time.
Popov was soon reassigned to Syria before fraud charges landed him in court. He denied wrongdoing and retained many allies in Moscow who shared his criticisms of Russian military leadership.
