Two years ago, Major General Ivan Popow was a respected and distinguished commander of the 58th Army. He commanded 1 of the most hard sections of the front for the Russians. After the study to Chief of General Staff Walerija Gierasimovrequested rotations depleted by troops fighting, was to be called a panic and blackmailer. Then he made a mistake and sent a voice memo to his colleagues, in which he harshly criticized the officials of the Ministry of Defence, mentioning besides Gierasimov. He was retired in the spring of 2023.
Popov appealed to Putin for approval to return
Last May, Popow was hit by another blow — He was charged with fraud.He didn't confess to. He was arrested and was threatened with six years in prison, although many of his supporters, including a deputy and a associate of the State Duma Defence Commission, Gen. Viktor Sobolev, stood up for him. In March 2025, a retired and accused general wrote an open letter to Vladimir Putinwhich was published in the state media. According to CNN, he called for approval to return to the battlefield. He described Putin as his “moral guide and function model”.
Last week, Russian state media reported that His lawyer and Ministry of defence agreed to return Popov to active work alternatively of prison. Now he returns to the front, but in another role, he is to be the commander on the front line of the notorious battalion of erstwhile prisoners who had previously suffered massive losses in Ukraine. This is in line with Russian law, which avoids trial and possible conviction by participating in the “special missions” of troops that are sent to alleged “meat storms”. The subordinates of the general, who erstwhile commanded the full army, will be prisoners of the Tambów detention.
Kateryna Stepanenko of the Washington Institute for War Studies tells CNN that the Popov allocation is “in fact a death sentence, as Russian military command mainly uses the criminal troops “Sturm Z” in suicide attacks”.
