Putin replaced the Generals with the FSB: why the Russian army does not trust command - The Economist

After the failure of the offensive, rumors of the arrest of Beseda appeared, but he reappeared in public - in March 2024 he participated in negotiations on ceasefire with US representatives in Saudi Arabia. Andriy Soldatov, an expert on Russian special services, notes that the involvement in such negotiations indicates two points: first, Putin views negotiations as an alternative to war, and secondly, rehabilitates intelligence, despite their role in failures at the beginning of the war.

At the same time, the military does not support this point of view. According to the UK Ministry of Defense, Russia has lost more than 200,000 soldiers killed and 600,000 wounded, but did not achieve significant results at the front. The army, as the publication emphasizes, is forced to fight not only with the Ukrainian forces, but also with its own special services. The FSB is increasing control of the military through the expansion of counterintelligence, which is increasing.

Its main mission is to monitor the army, to restrain the influence of popular generals and not to allow political self -organization. Soldatov compares this situation with the cleaning of the USSR. According to sources, Putin began not to trust the military after their restrained reaction to the beginning of the war. A few days before the invasion of retirement, Leonid Ivashov, who previously expressed the position of the General Staff, publicly warned of a possible catastrophe.

When the Blitzkrig did not manage to be implemented, the Russian media actually accused the FSB of the fact that the army had a clear imagination of either the whole operation or its mission. In order to increase the pressure on the military leadership, Putin allowed Eugene Prishey to openly criticize the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoig and commander -in -chief Valery Gerasimov. However, in July 2023, Prigogine renovated, receiving the silent support of some officers.

The army did not support him, but did not interfere. After the death of Prigogine in a plane crash began mass cleansing - several generals disappeared, the popular commander Ivan Popov was reduced, and Media Archanges Prigogine came under state control. The Telegram, which has become a platform for an independent military analytics, the influence of military correspondents whose audience has about 13 million people has limited significantly.

After the rebellion, Prigogine was arrested by the famous blogger Igor Strelkov, while others became more cautious in the statements. The FSB conducts not only in the army but also in the Ministry of Defense. Shoigu was transferred to another position, and his entourage was under a blow: three former deputies and about 30 employees were arrested.

Mikhail Comin from the Center for Analysis of European Policy notes that the purpose of these actions was to eliminate Shoig's "clan" and to control the financial flows of the Ministry of Defense. Shoigu's successor, economist Andriy Belousov, without ties with influential groups, received only partial freedom in shaping the team: two of the three deputies probably appointed Putin personally.

Three generals were arrested, including the deputy chief of the General Staff Vadim Shamarin and Ivan Popov. The latter recently sent Putin a letter asking him to return it to the front. In a letter, he wrote that he always obeyed and followed the way, determined by the oath and will of the President. The Kremlin has confirmed the receipt of the letter, but has not yet been answered.

We will remind, since the beginning of a full -scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, according to NATO data, Russia has lost more than 900 thousand soldiers, of which 250 thousand have died. According to the expert, most wounded Russian soldiers were seriously injured, which will remain with them for life, because of improper medical care.