Russian President Vladimir Putin Photo: AR
The Kremlin is preparing for a new wave of arrests among high-ranking Russian military personnel after the failure to defend the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have been on the offensive for more than 10 days. The purge at the Russian Defense Ministry that began after the resignation of Sergei Shoigu may intensify, with serious consequences for the generals who failed to stop the Ukrainian invasion.
According to the independent Russian publication “Verstka”, citing sources in the government and parliament, Moscow lost control over 1,000 square kilometers of territory due to the offensive of Ukrainian forces. This may become the basis for initiating criminal cases against high-ranking officials of the military and special services responsible for the defense of the region.
General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff and head of Russian military operations in Ukraine since January 2023, has already found himself at the center of the scandal. According to Bloomberg, Gerasimov knew about the preparation of the offensive, but did not inform Vladimir Putin about it, which could put his career in jeopardy. His absence from the meeting of the Ministry of Defense of Russia on August 15, where additional measures for the defense of the Kursk region were discussed, only strengthens the rumors about his disfavor.
In addition, since August 9, the head of the FSB, Oleksandr Bortnikov, has been coordinating the actions of law enforcement agencies in the region, where the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) regime has been introduced in the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions.
Since May, at least five Russian generals have been arrested on corruption charges. Among them are the head of the Main Directorate of Personnel, Lieutenant General Yuriy Kuznetsov, and the former commander of the 58th Army, Major General Ivan Popov.
The wave of arrests, The Moscow Times reports, is part of a larger campaign to blame the army for failures on the Ukrainian front and gain control of the Defense Ministry’s vast financial resources.
Sources also warn that by the end of the year, hundreds of people may be arrested in all units of the Ministry of Defense, which makes the situation in the Russian military elite increasingly tense.
