The Russian army represents the cracks after the Wagner rebellion, which is already training Belarusian troops

Russia’s problems on the front have resurfaced with criticism from the generals in the military command now coming from within the military itself nearly three weeks after a failed uprising by Wagner Group mercenaries, some of whom are already training troops in Belarus.

Ivan Popov, the former commander of the 58th Army of the Russian Armed Forces operating in the southeastern region of Zaporozhye, condemned the serious mistakes of the Russian command, which caused a large number of casualties, after which he was removed from his position. “I tell you honestly, it was a complex situation with the leadership: you had to be a coward, keep quiet and say what you want to hear or call things by their name,” General Popov said in an audio recording in which he highlighted cracks in the army.

Igor Guirkin, alias Strelkov, the leader of the pro-Russian uprising in Donbas in 2014, described Popov’s statements as “a very dangerous precedent” and “almost a rebellion,” according to Efe. “Only a major military defeat separates us from a new march on Moscow led by the regular army,” he said, referring to Wagner’s mercenary column that came within 200 kilometers of the Russian capital during his June 24 uprising.

Popov’s attempt to submit to the General Staff is “a pattern of corrosive behavior that has developed within the Russian command and forces,” the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) found.

According to the center, this insolence is reminiscent of the rebellion of the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, during which he sought out Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Other military reviews

The ISW warned that the failure of the Russian Ministry of Defense to “address the endemic problems of the war” could lead to a “crisis of command in the future”. His analysts cited another case, that of the commander of the Airborne Forces of Russia, Lt. Gen. Mihail Teplinskiwho submitted his temporary resignation in January due to a conflict with Gerasimov over the strategy in Soledar and in March “appealed” to the Russian president, Vladimir Putinallegedly due to “the Department of Defense’s mistreatment of Wagner, lack of transparency, and contempt for the Russian war effort.”

The insubordination is a latent threat to Putin, who revealed on Friday his attempts to placate Wagner’s mercenaries five days after the failed rebellion after offering to join the regular army.

The president gave the mercenaries options to meet “in one place” and “continue to serve” under the command of the commander of a private military company known as Sedói (Grey-Haired), identified on the 2021 EU sanctions list as Andrei. Troshev, one of the founders of Wagner. Putin assured the daily Kommersant that after hearing the proposal, many Wagnerian commanders agreed, but Prigozhin responded by refusing.

In the meantime, some of the mercenaries are already in Belarus as military instructors for the preparation of territorial defense units, in a camp near the town of Osipovichi, 230 kilometers from Ukraine. “It is a very useful experience for our Belarusian army,” its Ministry of Defense said.