Eight Russian military commanders have been removed from their duties since the start of the war in Ukraine without transfer to other positions.

Calculated by "Layout

At least eight Russian generals were removed from their posts after the invasion of Ukraine, but never received new appointments typical for the high military command in such situations, Vorstka calculated.

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▫️ The commander of the 1st Guards Tank Army, Lieutenant General Sergei Kisel , was the first to be fired, British intelligence reported back in March 2022. It is assumed that the personnel decision was made after the failure of the capture of Kharkov. Kisel’s appointment to a new position was not reported.

▫️ In May 2022, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Igor Osipov , was removed from his post. This happened a month after the sinking of the cruiser "Moscow". According to Ukrainian intelligence, Osipov was arrested; according to others, he was sent into retirement.

▫️ In the summer of 2022, the commander of the Southern Military District, General Alexander Dvornikov , lost his post, intelligence agencies of Western countries reported. He was considered the commander of the Russian army in the operation to invade Ukraine, but was never officially mentioned in this status by the Kremlin. There was no information about Dvornikov’s appointment to a new position.

▫️ In October, the commander of the Western Military District, Colonel General Alexander Zhuravlev , was dismissed. This happened “as a result of the first stage of the current invasion,” CIT analysts wrote.

▫️ In April 2023, the commander of the Eastern Military District, Lieutenant General Rustam Muradov , was removed from his post. According to British intelligence, the reason for this was heavy losses during attempts to take Ugledar.

▫️ In the same month, Deputy Minister of Defense for Logistics, Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev lost his position. The owner of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, stated that this happened due to the fact that Mizintsev provided the mercenaries with ammunition. The general did not receive a new appointment in the Ministry of Defense, after which he became deputy commander at the PMC. After the end of the Prigozhin rebellion, nothing is known about the fate of Mizintsev.

▫️ At the end of June, after the mercenary mutiny, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, deputy commander of the operation in Ukraine, General Sergei Surovikin , disappeared. Sources of “Verstka” claim that the general was detained by FSB counterintelligence on suspicion of involvement in organizing the rebellion. The Ministry of Defense did not officially announce the removal of Surovikin, but at the meeting on July 10, the report to the head of the General Staff was made not by the commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces, but by the chief of staff of this type of troops.

▫️ In mid-July, messages appeared in wartime telegram channels that the commander of the 106th Guards Airborne Division, Major General Vladimir Seliverstov, had also lost his position due to his “uncompromising character.” This was also not officially reported.

The calculation did not take into account the former commander of the 58th Army, Ivan Popov. Last week he criticized the Ministry of Defense, after which he was removed from his post. But, according to Don-24 , Popov did not leave the Ministry of Defense, but was transferred to one of the command positions in the Russian group in Syria.

Editorial "Layout"