GENERAL CHAOS
Bombshell doc ‘reveals Putin has FIRED’ his rarely-seen top war General Gerasimov after slew of battlefield disasters
General Gerasimov was last seen with defence minister Sergei Shoigu on February 18
BOMBSHELL documents have revealed Vladimir Putin has fired his rarely-seen top war commander General Valery Gerasimov, it has been claimed.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces has been seen in public just twice this year amid Russia's slew of battlefield disasters.
9
9
9
9
A draft document has now emerged on an official Kremlin government portal of “regulatory legal acts” naming another senior commander, Viktor Pznikhir, as acting Chief of the General Staff.
With the document only dated by the month - March 2024, as highlighted by independent SOTA media - speculation over Gerasimov's dismissal is now running rife in Russia.
Poznikhir was promoted by Putin to Colonel-General in a little-noticed announcement on February 22.
Four days later Gerasimov, 68, was reportedly seen for the last time, handing out medals to troops on the frontline.
Read more in World News
He was last visible with defence minister Sergei Shoigu on February 18, but prior to that had not been seen since December 29.
There have been rumours that Gerasimov’s health has suffered during the war against Ukraine, including that he required surgery.
The hawkish Col-Gen Poznikhir is currently listed as holding the position of First Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Directorate (GOU) of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
He has not played a frontline role in the war but was previously linked to Russian forces in Syria.
Most read in The Sun
In 2019, he accused the “notorious” UK-funded White Helmets “who operate as part of terrorist groups”.
They “staged and filmed a chemical weapons attack on civilians in the town of Douma”, he alleged.
Moment of horror for Putin as yet another military plane crashes
The speculation over Gerasimov comes despite territorial gains for Russia on the frontline due to Ukraine’s shortage of Western supplied munitions.
Yet Russia has also been hit by the loss of major Black Sea fleet ships and key facilities have been damaged by missile strikes.
Last month, footage shared by Ukraine's ministry of defence showed the dramatic moment its boats sped toward Putin's £55million Black Sea missile ship "Ivanovets" and sent it up in flames.
Things haven't been much better on land either, with Putin having lost nearly all of the tanks he had when he started his brutal invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago.
The tyrant has lost almost 3,000 of the armoured vehicles since the war began.
That includes his £1million T-72 tank, with chilling footage showing the armoured vehicle making its way across the battlefield when it gets suddenly blown to smithereens by a Ukrainian suicide drone.
Troop numbers have also been depleting, with Ukraine wiping out dozens of Russian troops in two devastatingly deadly pinpoint HIMARS strikes on their training grounds in recent weeks.
In harrowing clarity, a video released by Ukraine showed how the missiles slammed into the undefended squaddies as they rehearsed war games in the occupied Kherson region.
Just 24 hours before, Putin suffered one of his worst blows of the war when the bunker-busting US-made missiles reportedly wiped out 65 soldiers as they lined up for a parade.
The last three days have also seen four hits on oil refineries which could lead to fuel shortages in Russia.
Despite the speculation there has been so far no official comment from the Kremlin on Gerasimov’s status.
Elsewhere, yet another of Putin's cronies has died - making him the latest member of the Kremlin elite to die under mysterious circumstances.
Vitaly Robertus, the vice president of the Russian oil giant Lukoil, has died "suddenly" at the age of 54 - according to the firm.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
It came as Alexei Navalny’s long-time ally was brutally attacked with a hammer outside his home in Lithuania in a horror assault said to have been ordered by Putin.
Leonid Volkov, who served as the late opposition leader’s chief of staff in 2018, was rushed to hospital after suffering injuries to his head and legs.
9
9
9
9
9
Topics