MOSCOW, May 25. In the case of the former commander of the 58th Army, Major General Ivan Popov, another general was initially involved, who died at the front before the start of investigative measures, writes Kommersant, citing sources.
«Meanwhile, According to Kommersant’s sources, initially the materials featured a completely different general, who also participated in the Northern Military District,” the article says.
According to Kommersant, another defendant died in the special operation zone before the start of investigative actions. At the same time, as journalists point out, the deceased general was awarded the title of Hero of Russia posthumously.
Popov’s removal from command of the 58th Army became known in July 2023, when Andrei Gurulev, a deputy from United Russia and a member of the State Duma Defense Committee, posted an audio message from the general on his Telegram channel. As stated by the Secretary of the General Council of United Russia Andrey Turchak, this was an appeal for a closed chat of commanders and soldiers of the 58th Army, and Gurulev should not have staged a political show.
As the 235th Garrison Military Court reported, the general was arrested on May 17 in a fraud case on a particularly large scale. According to investigators, Popov was involved in the theft in 2023 of more than 1,700 tons of rolled metal products purchased by the Military-Civil Administration of the Zaporozhye Region as part of the provision of humanitarian aid. These materials, worth over 130 million rubles, were intended for the equipment of engineering defensive structures on the line of combat contact. 