The curious, oh-so-Russian tale of General Popov (1)

Way down the rankings on the War in Ukraine pages is the newly-revived story of Russian General Popov, who is now being charged with ‘fraud of a particularly extensive nature’.  It’s alleged he sold thousands of tonnes of steel, intended for Russian fortifications against the ill-fated 2023 Ukrainian counter-offensive, to a shady metals dealer for over $1m in cash that’s been found at his house.  His fall from grace happened late last summer, but at the time it seemed to do with his public complaints that troop rotations weren’t being made sufficiently frequently.  No charges were brought back then, nor corruption even mentioned; he’d slid from public attention and been sent to Syria. 

Given that today’s backdrop is the recent high-profile ‘sideways promotion’ of Defence Minister Shoigu, his replacement with an economist known for efficiency, and several other senior officials also being done for corruption of various kinds, it’s easy to imagine the new charges against Popov are just part of a traditional changing-of-the guard purge that is so popular with communist and former-communist regimes: happens all the time.  Odd that he was a critic of Shoigu (so why should he go down now, as Shoigu himself falls from favour?) but hey, clearing the decks is clearing the decks.  He probably pissed off others as well.

The reaction from the Russian ‘milblogger’ fraternity has been very interesting: I.I.Popov is extremely popular, a “soldiers’ soldier”, credited (by the soldiery, at least) of being the main factor behind the crucial, successful defence of Tokmak on the Zaporizhia front last year.  Here are some typical contributions: 

• Nothing has yet been proven, and we suspect that Ivan Ivanovich could have suffered for his statements.  It is unseemly to keep one of the heroes of our time behind bars
• Front line soldiers were greatly demoralized by news of the removal of the “simple” and “understandable” honest General Popov. Yes, perhaps he had his flaws. But in the context of [other] commanders who sacrificed dozens of personnel for the sake of their next “Star of the Hero” medal, Popov clearly stood out for the better
• The experienced commander, who was doted upon by his subordinates …  
• I know for sure that without his hands-on leadership in organizing the defensive lines [in 2023], we would hardly have been ready to meet the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the peak of their power
• General Ivan Popov is not a thief. He is a soldier. However… we forgive thieves too. Or they don’t get imprisoned at all. A soldier cannot always count on this
• If the investigation proves his guilt, then he must suffer the punishment he deserves, but all the good he has done for the Russian army must be taken into account. He must not be allowed to be made a scapegoat. 

A general who makes mistakes, and a popular general who makes mistakes, are two completely different matters from the point of view of ‘the system’. Whether he is really guilty of what he is accused of is not so important …

Poor old Popov.  Keep away from windows and private planes, eh? 

ND