Russian Commander Called 'Crazy Idiot' for Sending Troops to Certain Death

A Russian commander considered responsible for the failed attack on Vuhledar, a Ukrainian town in the eastern Donetsk region, and recently removed from his post, was called a "crazy idiot" by Russian independent news media.

The Moscow Times, an independent Amsterdam-based English-language and Russian-language online newspaper currently banned in Russia, said that two military sources had informed it of the suspension of 50-year-old Colonel-General Rustam Muradov, who launched the recent offensive in eastern Ukraine.

"Muradov was suspended because he was a crazy idiot who could order soldiers to die," one of the sources told the online newspaper. "Many complained about him."

Muradov is a former commander of Russian forces in Syria who later served as a peacekeeper in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region at the center of a territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He has served as commander in Ukraine since October 5, 2022, according to reports, heading Russia's Eastern Military District (EMD).

In February, Muradov launched an attack on Vuhledar, but ended up sending his troops right under the fire of the Ukrainian artillery and into minefields. According to reports, the army lost two elite marine brigades—one of which is probably the much-discussed 155th Naval Infantry Brigade—and 103 pieces of equipment in only three days.

According to Oryx, a website that monitors military losses in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Russian army lost a total of 36 tanks during the attack on Vuhledar. In the same period, the Armed Forces of Ukraine were estimated to have lost only 20 pieces of equipment—one-fifth of Russia's entire losses at that time.

The two anonymous sources who spoke to The Moscow Times weren't the only ones criticizing Muradov. Far-right nationalist and former Federal Security Service officer Igor Girkin called those who led the failed attack on Vuhledar "complete cretins."

The British Ministry of Defence recently estimated that 500 Russian troops a day died during the failed attack on the eastern Ukrainian town in February. The ministry said that Moscow is currently running a "deliberate information operation" to rebuild the reputation of its elite units devastated during the failed offensive, especially the 155th Naval Infantry brigade.

"The [Russian] MOD's effort to revive the brigade's image likely reflects concern about the way in which its failures were being increasingly associated with Russian senior military leaders."

The Russian army isn't just switching up its leadership, it's actively looking to expand. According to the British MoD, Vladimir Putin will be recruiting an additional 400,000 service personnel as a result of the high casualties in Ukraine. But it's unlikely that these will be "genuine volunteers," though the Kremlin will probably try to present them as such to avoid protests at home.