Russian general says he has been fired for telling truth about situation on frontlines in Ukraine war

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Major General Ivan Popov, the commander of the 58th Army fighting in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, which is a focal point in the Ukrainian counteroffensive, said in an audio statement to his troops that he was dismissed after a meeting with the top military brass in what he described as a “treacherous” stab in the back to the Russian forces fighting in Ukraine. Maj Gen Popov, whose military call sign was “Spartacus”, explicitly raised the deaths of Russian soldiers from Ukrainian artillery and said the army lacked proper counter-artillery systems and reconnaissance of enemy artillery. Maj Gen Popov’s voice message has little of the hysteria that marked Mr Prigozhin’s repeated tirades against Russia’s military leadership in the months leading up to the mutiny. Russia’s main state television channels did not report the remarks by Maj Gen Popov on their main news programmes on Thursday, though Kommersant, a respected Russian newspaper, did report them.