A Russian army general who previously managed the defense of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region in Ukraine has been arrested on fraud charges, the state-run TASS news agency said.
“The ex-commander of the 58th Guards Combined Arms Army, Ivan Ivanovich Popov, was arrested on suspicion of fraud,” an unnamed law enforcement official told TASS.
The source mentioned that the 235th Garrison Military Court is handling the case against Popov, who holds the rank of major general.
There has been no immediate response from the Russian Defense Ministry or law enforcement agencies regarding the reported arrest.
In July 2023, Popov said he was dismissed from his role as commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army after directly complaining to then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about systemic mismanagement within the military.
An audio file shared at the time by State Duma lawmaker and former military commander Andrei Gurulyov featured Popov criticizing his superiors for “treacherously decapitating” the military following his dismissal.
This speech marked the first publicly known instance of a regular army officer expressing discontent after the Wagner mercenary group’s failed revolt.
Popov’s arrest follows the recent arrests of Lieutenant-General Yury Kuznetsov and Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, an ally of Shoigu, on bribery charges. These events suggest that the authorities are conducting a broader crackdown within Russia’s military.
