A prominent Russian military blogger has called on Vladimir Putin to introduce a “massive systemic repression” of the army to rid it of corrupt and criminal groups.
His calls come in the wake of growing anger over the deaths of specialist drone operators fighting in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, which is threatening to tear Putin’s army apart.
Junior Sergeant Dmitry Lysakovsky (alias Goodwin) and Lieutenant Colonel Sergey Gritsai (alias Ernest) were killed on September 13 after being forced to take part in a frontal assault on Ukrainian positions.
The two soldiers were drone operators serving in the 87th Separate Rifle Regiment (SRR), which is made up of pro-Russian militias under the command of local Donetsk elites.
However, their drone unit was disbanded after they criticised their commanders and alleged that drug trafficking was taking place on the frontline.
As punishment, their vengeful commanders reportedly deployed them to combat units and sent them into the meat grinder.
Their deaths provoked a furious outcry among prominent military bloggers, many of whom have close ties to Russia’s army and security agencies.
Russia’s Minister of Defence, Andrei Belousov, launched a hasty investigation into the deaths of the soldiers in an attempt to diffuse anger.
The investigation cleared the commanders of the 87th of abusing their powers and dismissed the drug trafficking allegations.
The conclusions, though, have failed to appease the military bloggers, one of whom accused local Donetsk elites of deliberately acting against the Kremlin’s interests to preserve their power base.
In a furious post, the blogger “Two Majors” wrote: “Commanders can commit crimes by killing their subordinates for certain criminal purposes. But in the Goodwin case, we are dealing with more than just this fact.
“Once again in Russian history, we have from the local southern Russian elites a CHALLENGE and THREAT to the ability of the federal centre to achieve its goal.
“This Donetsk power/criminal group is fighting with all its might for its existence, using connections in Moscow, using the media and bloggers to whitewash its own and denigrate others.
“Thus, the worst of crimes in the Russian political coordinate system is being committed.
“I repeat that the Russian Army needs MASSIVE SYSTEMIC REPRESSION for its recovery.”
