Shoigu dismisses general who accused him of 'decapitating the army'
Russian General Ivan Popov (wikipedia org)
According to an audio statement by Popov, published by Russian State Duma deputy Andrey Gurulyov, Russian General Ivan Popov, commander of the forces of the 58th occupying army in the Zaporizhzhia direction, has been dismissed from his position after accusing the Russian Ministry of Defense of not providing him with sufficient support on the front and betraying his troops.
According to CNN, the commander of the 58th Russian army in the Zaporizhzhia direction raised the issue of “the lack of counter-battery combat, the absence of artillery reconnaissance stations, and the mass deaths and injuries of our brothers from enemy artillery” among the occupiers from artillery fire.
“I also raised a number of other problems and expressed it all at the highest level frankly and extremely harshly,” Popov said in the audio message. “I had no right to lie, therefore, I outlined all the problematic issues that exist today in the army in terms of combat work and support,” he added.
According to Popov, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu "signed the order and got rid of" him, accusing him of state treason.
“As many commanders of divisional regiments said today, the servicemen of 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.
What we know about the 58th Russian army
CNN reports that the headquarters of the 58th combined-arms army is located in the occupied city of Berdiansk in the Zaporizhzhia region, with a base in the "Dyuna" hotel, which was hit by a missile strike on Tuesday morning, July 11, resulting in the elimination of another Russian lieutenant general, Oleg Tsokov.
