Russia’s Defense Ministry does not comment on dismissals, and has said nothing publicly about Popov. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not respond to a request for comment.
The general’s harsh criticism echoes attacks made by Wagner chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin, who led a military rebellion on June 24 in what he claimed was an effort to topple Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the Russian chief of the general staff. In the weeks leading up to his aborted march on Moscow, Prigozhin savaged the men for failures in military leadership in Ukraine, recording a series of graphic, obscenity-laden tirades from the front lines.
“The split is continuing in the army,” said Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-connected political consultant. “There is dissatisfaction among a significant part of the top brass. Of course this undermines morale in the army.”
The fractures in Russia’s military underscore the risks of Putin’s remote, tone deaf leadership after he failed to address the long-burning feud between Prigozhin and his military command. Prigozhin’s rebellion seemed, in part, a wild attempt to get Putin’s attention. After the rebellion, though, the president stood by Shoigu and Gerasimov, although both are widely viewed as incompetent by Russia’s pro-war nationalists.
The fissures in the chain of command also foreshadow the hazards for Putin of a drawn-out war with high casualties, multiple military setbacks and no clear end game. The Kremlin claims Russia is fighting an existential war against NATO, and is saving the world from “Nazis” in Ukraine, as well as from the United States and a shadowy global elite — an appeal that analysts say may be less persuasive as the conflict drags on.
In the aftermath of the rebellion, commanders perceived to be close to Prigozhin, including Gen. Sergei Surovikin, who was often praised by the Wagner leader, have been interrogated by Russian investigators seeking to root out those who were disloyal, or who knew of Prigozhin’s plans.
Surovikin’s whereabouts are not publicly known. On Wednesday, Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the State Duma defense committee, said he was “resting” and not available. Moscow’s Public Supervisory Commission wrote on Thursday that he was not being held in any of the capital’s pretrial detention centers.
A European security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said there were “some indicators” that Surovikin had been detained. His daughter and other family members had been trying unsuccessfully to reach him for three days, the security official said.
Markov said Surovikin was likely questioned for many hours by different investigative groups. It was clear, he added, that “Surovikin has been recommended to not go anywhere or speak to anyone, and to sit quietly.”
Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the rumors swirling about the arrests of top military officials could force obedience from many in Russia’s elite, but the speculation, and statements like Popov’s, were also “a feature of the war fatigue among elites.”
“In the future, it could play a negative role for Putin,” he said.
Popov’s explosive comments to his men were published on Telegram not by a government critic, but by Andrei Gurulyov, a lawmaker from Putin’s own United Russia party.
The general, whose call sign is “Spartak,” referred to his soldiers as “gladiators” in the leaked audio message, saying he was dismissed “in one day” after he “outlined all the problems existing in the army” to figures “at the very top.”
“A difficult situation arose with the senior authorities, when we had to either remain silent and cowardly and say what they wanted to hear, or call a spade a spade,” Popov said. “In the name of you and our fallen combat friends, I had no right to lie.”
Popov’s removal drew outrage from Russia’s nationalist hawks and pro-war bloggers, an increasingly influential, vocal and unpredictable force in Russian society. Many of them have massive followings on social media and have not been shy about criticizing Shoigu and Gerasimov.
After the rebellion, many of them called for Putin to make changes in the military. On Thursday, they raged at the heavy-handed effort to silence Popov, who is broadly admired for his competence, and warned it would have a serious impact on front-line morale.
“The conflict between Popov and Gerasimov highlights one main thing: the lack of unity in the Russian Armed Forces,” wrote Rybar, a prominent blogger whose real name is Mikhail Zvinchuk. “The enemy will surely take advantage of this.”
Another blogger, Andrei Zhivov, wrote that Popov’s dismissal would “significantly reduce the morale and combat effectiveness of the army.”
“The president needs to intervene in this situation,” he continued. “No one else is trusted.”
One Russian official with close ties to senior diplomatic circles, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive situation, said the scandal over Popov’s dismissal was a sign that the turmoil from Prigozhin’s rebellion was spreading ever deeper into the elite.
“They created a Frankenstein’s monster that has gotten out of control,” he said. Prigozhin “began some kind of process and now it is continuing.”
A senior Ukrainian official said the publication of Popov’s comments was a sign of “the disintegration of the Russian army.”
“It is unprecedented that a general in active service challenges the orders of the highest command publicly,” he said, also speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Russia did not face these kind of events since 1917,” he added, referring to the military uprising that preceded the Russian Revolution.
Before his short-lived mutiny, Prigozhin had accused Defense Ministry leaders of withholding ammunition from his men, as the Wagner mercenary group lost thousands of fighters in the long, bloody battle for Bakhmut.
Popov’s criticisms also focused on the lack of support for front-line soldiers, namely the lack of counter-battery warfare and artillery reconnaissance stations. He lamented the “mass deaths and injuries” from enemy artillery, calling it “the most important tragedy of modern warfare.”
And he accused the Defense Ministry of “treachery” for removing him.
The 58th Combined Arms Army has been headquartered in the Russian-occupied city of Berdyansk in southern Ukraine. On Wednesday, Gurulyov, the Duma deputy and a former commander himself, reported that Lt. Gen. Oleg Tsokov was recently killed in an attack on the base, making him the most senior Russian military officer to be killed in the war.
The Russian Defense Ministry has not confirmed Tsokov’s death.
“Unfortunately, he died heroically, this man deserves enormous respect,” said Gurulyov, speaking on the Russian state television program “60 Minutes.”
Gurulyov’s publication of Popov’s message drew criticism from Andrei Turchak, head of Putin’s United Russia party, in a rare public show of intraparty divisions. Turchak accused Gurulyov of creating a “political show,” warning that the army should remain “out of politics,” in comments posted to Telegram.
“The split is spreading inside the ruling party,” said the Russian official with diplomatic ties. “This shows there is no unity on what’s happening. Putin can’t stop it.”
The Kremlin’s disclosure on Monday that Putin met Prigozhin and several dozen Wagner commanders five days after the rebellion “shows that something is going on that we don’t understand,” the official continued. “So far, this is outside our understanding, but everyone understands something is going badly wrong inside our house.”
Natalia Abbakumova contributed to this report.
