On March 20, the former commander of the 58th Guards Army Ivan Popov, who is currently being tried by a military court, addressed an open letter to the Supreme Commander of the Russian Federation, namely Russian President Vladimir Putin; his words are quoted by the newspaper Kommersant. The General emphasizes that he was a loyal soldier, for whom the army was the very meaning of life, but now he finds himself in a difficult situation.
The General therefore asks the President/Supreme Commander to resolve the situation and return him to service. Addressing Putin, General Popov said that he had devoted his entire life to the noblest cause: serving the Motherland. From his youth, he served in the Russian army with honesty and dignity, completing all the orders and tasks assigned to him. At the same time, according to the former army commander, Vladimir Putin was his role model and moral compass.
Using his example, “I finally understood what the legendary words ‘a cold mind, a warm heart and clean hands’ mean.” The essence of the general’s life, as stated in the letter, were the words of a great Russian song: “Our concern is such, our work is simple. If only our homeland lived, and there were no other worries,” the Russian daily continues.
Now, the general continues, having found himself in a difficult life situation, he stopped understanding what was happening around him. “I was subjected to an unfounded judicial case and, contrary to my will and the situation prevailing in the SVO zone (the war in Ukraine, ed.), I was dismissed from the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” the military leader writes.
Popov asks his President/Commander-in-Chief to resolve the situation and recall him to service. “I want to continue to defeat the enemy, in accordance with the oath I took,” the General notes.
On April 9, his lawyer announced that General Popov will return to duty. General Ivan Popov will command one of the Storm Z assault units after the conclusion of the trial against him and will be sent to the zone of military operations, a source told Kommersant. Storm Z units are made up of “former” prisoners. After agreeing to be sent to the front, criminal prosecution of these people is suspended. It can be terminated at the end of a military operation or after receiving state awards.
Popov served as commander of the 58th Joint Army of the Southern Military District, but in June 2023 he was removed from command. In July of the same year, MP Andrei Gurulev published an audio message from Popov, in which the general spoke about his report to the leadership about the lack of weapons, the “mass deaths and injuries” of soldiers, and his subsequent dismissal from office. The military man justified his resignation by “a difficult situation with the top”.
In the spring of 2024, Popov was arrested and suspected of involvement in the theft of more than 1.7 thousand tons of rolled metal products worth more than 105 million rubles, intended for the construction of defense facilities in the Zaporizhia region. The general never admitted his responsibility.
Moscow Court has nor freed Popov on April 12 trial. The case is still open.
Luigi Medici
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