Furious Putin purges his military top brass
A BRUTAL purge of Russian military top brass has been launched by Vladimir Putin as his army continues to falter in its invasion of Ukraine, it was claimed last night.
Russia’s top commander General Valery Gerasimov has reportedly been suspended, an adviser to the Ukrainian president said.
His suspension came as other Russian officers were reportedly
‘Looking for people to blame’
sacked or arrested in a rumoured purge of top brass.
Oleksiy Arestovych, a veteran of military intelligence and one of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inner circle, claimed Gerasimov, chief of staff of the Russian army, has been suspended as Putin looks for senior commanders to blame for the bungled invasion.
Arestovych, speaking to dissident Russian lawyer and politician Mark Feygin, said: ‘According to preliminary information, Gerasimov has been de facto suspended. They are deciding whether to give him time to fix things, or not.
‘The commander of the first tank army of the western military district Lieutenant General Sergei Kisel has also been arrested and fired after the first tank army was defeated near Kharkiv.’
Two further commanders have been fired due to heavy battlefield losses, according to the Ukrainian interior ministry. It also claimed the commander of the Black Sea fleet has been sacked and arrested and his vice admiral has been placed under investigation.
It comes after Gerasimov failed to appear at Russia’s Victory Day parade in Moscow on Monday.
He reportedly suffered shrapnel wounds in Ukraine after he was ordered to revive Russia’s war machine. If confirmed, the move would be Putin’s largest purge of generals since he ordered his forces to invade. Elsewhere, Putin has lost yet another senior commander as Ukraine continues to target Russia’s top brass.
Lieutenant Colonel Albert Karimov, 39, was a highly decorated special forces officer in the GRU military intelligence agency.
Russia has not disclosed the circumstances of his death during the war in Ukraine, which has seen the loss of thousands of its troops. His funeral was held yesterday in the village of Tirlyansky in his native Bashkortostan region. Russia has not disclosed the circumstances of his death in Ukraine.
Nine Russian generals are known to have died in Ukraine. Karimov is the 41st known colonel to have been killed in the conflict. This is a rate of almost one every two days.