Amidst allegedly losing two more Russian generals the past week, Russia’s Vladimir Putin decided that it was time to purge his top military generals by dismissing five more generals. This comes as Russia continues to struggle in advancing and capturing areas in eastern Ukraine, specifically in Severodonetsk, where it has failed to capture the entire city.
According to the Russian state-sponsored news outlet Pravada, Putin dismissed five generals and one police colonel on May 30. According to the report, Putin dismissed the following officers:
Major General Vasily Kukushkin, Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Department for the Vladimir Region;
Major General Alexander Laas, Deputy Head of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Altai Territory;
Major General Andrey Lipilin, Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Department for the Yaroslavl Region;
Major General Alexander Udovenko, Head of the Operations Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs;
Major General Yuri Instrankin, Deputy Head of the Department for Logistics and Medical Support of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Police Colonel Emil Musin, First Deputy Head of the Forensic Expert Center of the Ministry of Internal AffairsAdditionally, Putin had also dismissed another general before this report named Lieutenant-General Valery Balan. He was the Deputy Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN). These reports were confirmed by the newspaper to be authentic as they had connections within the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The ranks of the men being relieved are revealing. As Major Generals, they would be in charge of the allocation of all resources in their districts as well as procuring these supplies and resources from contractors. It’s a license to steal.