Russian general who criticized leadership may soon lead battalion of ex-cons: lawyer
General Major Ivan Popov once commanded Russia's 58th Army before being sidelined, accused of fraud, and detained after blasting Russian military leadership in 2023. His lawyer and the Ministry of Defense called for him to be put in command of one of Russia's infamous detachments of ex-convicts, forces that have sustained massive casualties in the war against Ukraine.
"We, together with the Ministry of Defense, have a motion to suspend on the case… with the positive decision to send Ivan to [Ukraine]," the lawyer, Sergei Buinovsky, said, according to Russian media.
Popov published an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, asking the leader to reinstate him to military service in order to suspend his criminal trial.
Former defense intelligence officer and author of "Putin's Playbook" Rebekah Koffler says Putin may intervene in the case to ensure Popov is deployed to Ukraine.
"Putin routinely weighs in on high-profile cases, especially when Western media is involved," Koffler told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
"Putin is unpredictable - he may decide to let the process run its course and have Popov serve a prison sentence or he may decide to send him into the meat grinder in Ukraine and serve the 'Russian motherland,' making a propaganda case out of it, since Popov asked for it," she added.
The assignment to a penal detachment is arguably a death sentence, however, as Russia's military has routinely used ex-convict forces to conduct near-suicidal missions in the war against Ukraine, leading to high casualty rates.
"I was subjected to unjust prosecution," Popov wrote in his letter to Putin. "I wish to continue smashing the enemy in accordance with the oath I took."
Popov's lawyer, Sergei Buinovskiy, told Russian media that Popov "was grateful for the trust the president has placed in him."
As commander of Russia's 58th Army, Popov was in charge of a force of nearly 50,000 troops. The detachment he could soon lead likely numbers in the hundreds, however.
At the head of the 58th Army, Popov gained popularity with front-line troops by repelling a Ukrainian counter-attack that relied heavily on tanks provided by NATO countries. He then blasted Russia's top commanders for allowing Ukraine's initial breakthrough.
"The armed forces of Ukraine could not break through our army from the front, [but] our senior commander hit us from the rear, treacherously and vilely decapitating the army at the most difficult and tense moment," Popov said of Russian military chief-of-staff Valery Gerasimov at the time.
Popov was soon reassigned to Syria before fraud charges landed him in court. He denied wrongdoing and retained many allies in Moscow who shared his criticisms of Russian military leadership.
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