Russia's Putin sacks chief of military's land forces
MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin on May 15 sacked Russia's chief of land forces, General Oleg Salyukov, the Kremlin said, in the latest removal of a high-profile military establishment figure over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Gen Salyukov, 70, will become a deputy to former defence minister Sergei Shoigu, who was removed in 2024 and made Secretary of the Security Council.
The move was announced in a Kremlin decree.
Less than a week ago, Gen Salyukov was running the grand Victory Day military parade in Red Square with current Defence Minister Andrey Belousov, marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany.
Russian law enforcement has charged more than a dozen military and defence sector officials since 2024, many of whom were accused of siphoning money from major projects for personal gain.
Mr Shoigu, a longtime Putin ally, was downgraded in 2024 after holding various top positions since the early 1990s.
The Kremlin has denied that the arrests and sackings in Russia's top brass were a purge of the military establishment following setbacks in Ukraine.
Gen Salyukov had been in charge of Russia's land forces since 2014, overseeing involvement in the Syrian civil war and the offensive on Ukraine. He was a deputy head of the general staff for four years before that.
Russia, which allegedly planned to take Ukraine, a country with a much smaller military, in three days, has been stuck in a bloody and grinding three-year conflict that has left tens of thousands dead.
Ukraine and Russia are due to hold their first direct peace talks in more than three years in Istanbul on May 15 and 16. AFP
Russian leader Vladimir Putin planned to take Ukraine in three days, but became bogged down in a bloody and grinding three-year conflict.
PHOTO: AFP
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