Putin reappoints general he fired last year for failed Russian offensive near Vuhledar - ISW

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has appointed a new deputy commander of the Russian Ground Forces. It is Colonel General Rustam Muradov, whom Putin fired last spring as commander of the Eastern Military District.

The reason for the dismissal was the significant losses of the Russian army in Ukraine, in particular the defeat of the 155th Marine Brigade from Vladivostok near Vuhledar. The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) described the Kremlin's decision and the reaction of Russian military commanders to it.

On November 28, it became known that Putin had appointed Colonel General Rustam Muradov as the First Deputy Commander of the Russian Land Forces. The news, which will surely "delight" Russian Z-bloggers, was announced by the head of the Tabasaransky Raion of the Republic of Dagestan, Magomed Kurabanov. At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Defense has not commented on this appointment yet.

And, obviously, not without a reason. After all, a year and a half ago, Muradov served as the commander of the Eastern Military District and whom Putin scandalously fired in March 2023. The reason for the dismissal, analysts say, was most likely the failures of Russian troops in Donetsk region and the significant losses of personnel and equipment of the Russian army near Vuhledar early last year.

As previously reported, the notorious 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade (which has recently been involved in cruel treatment and executions of captured Ukrainian soldiers) suffered a crushing defeat (the third since the full-scale Russian invasion) near Vuhledar. Ukrainian soldiers destroyed a huge number of personnel of this Russian unit, along with the command, and more than 130 tanks, armored personnel carriers and other armored vehicles were destroyed.

Muradov was in command of the failed Russian offensive on Vuhledar at the time.

Russian Z-bloggers and "military commanders" raised the alarm at the time, accusing Muradov of "slaughtering the unit near Vuhledar and thus aiding the Ukrainians" and giving "criminal orders that led to senseless and inexpedient losses". They also demanded a military tribunal, demotion and even execution.

One of the Telegram channels associated with the Wagner PMC also accused Muradov of "exterminating" other Russian brigades.

"He decided to further weaken one of the best tank brigades (the 5th Tank Brigade) of the Russian Armed Forces. But he is not only not removed from office and convicted but promoted," Z-bloggers wrote at the time.

And this message really turned out to be prophetic. After the news of Muradov's appointment, Russian military commanders reminded him of all his previous "sins," and one of the propagandists even began to criticize the Russian military "tradition" of reappointing incompetent generals who are considered loyal to the Kremlin to new positions.

It is worth reminding that the information that Muradov was fired because of the failures in Donetsk region appeared in many propaganda channels on March 26, 2023.

It is known that this high-ranking war criminal has the title of "hero" of the Russian Federation (2017) and has been under sanctions in the European Union and a number of other Western countries since February 28, 2022.

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