A senior commander of Russian forces in occupied southern Ukraine says he was fired after he accused Russia’s defense minister of betraying troops under his command. In an audio recording posted online by a prominent Russian lawmaker, Major General Ivan Popov, who led Russia’s occupation in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, lashed out at Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the commander of Russia’s invasion force in Ukraine. Popov blamed the men for mass deaths and injuries of Russian soldiers and blasted them for not supplying troops with enough weapons and ammunition.
