On Thursday, the deputy chief of Russia’s National Guard was reportedly detained as Russian President Vladimir Putin cracks down on perceived disloyalty amid Russia’s struggling invasion of Ukraine.
Russian General Roman Gavrilov, of Rosgvardia, the internal military force of the Russian Federation, was detained by Russia’s security and counterintelligence agency, Federal Security Service (FSB), according to Christo Grozev, CEO of the investigative journalism group Bellingcat.
“Three independent sources report that the deputy chief of Russia’s Rosgvardia (a unit of RU’s interior army which has had tremendous losses in Ukraine), Gen. Roman Gavrilov has been detained by FSB. Gavrilov had also previously worked in FSO, Putin’s security service,” Grozev wrote on Twitter. “The reason for the detention is unclear: per one source he was detained by FSB’s military counter-intelligence department over ‘leaks of military info that led to loss of life’, while two others say it was ‘wasteful squandering of fuel’, ahem.”
“While it’s hard to guess what exactly the purge/reshuffling at the top of the siloviks will result in, one thing is clear: it’s doubtless that Putin recognizes the deep s**t this operation is in. I.e. it’s so bad that he changes horses in midstream – a big no-no during war,” Grozev added.
The reason for the detention is unclear: per one source he was detained by FSB's military counter-intelligence department over "leaks of military info that led to loss of life", while two others say it was "wasteful squandering of fuel", ahem. pic.twitter.com/UynQuWv8sr
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) March 17, 2022
The news comes the day after Putin said in an address that his country will undergo a “self-purification” of “traitors” as Russian forces have reportedly stopped making progress in the invasion of Ukraine.
“The Russian people will always be able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors and simply spit them out like a fly that accidentally flew into their mouths,” Putin said on Wednesday. “I am convinced that such a natural and necessary self-purification of society will only strengthen our country, our solidarity, cohesion and readiness to respond to any challenges.”
According to Reuters, “Russian forces in Ukraine are blasting cities and killing civilians but no longer making progress on the ground, Western countries said on Thursday, as a war Moscow was thought to have hoped to win within days entered its fourth week.”
