ISW Reports On Possible Firing Of Top GRU General
- 9.01.2024, 11:04
He was in charge of Russian PMCs.
Citing a Russian source in Telegram, the Institute for the Study of War ISW writes about the appearance of information about the firing of the first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Russian General Staff (GRU), Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev. He allegedly supervised the creation of the "Volunteer Corps", which was to replace the PMC "Wagner". As ISW notes, the aforementioned Russian Telegram channel previously provided accurate information about changes in the Russian command and now claims that Alekseev was allegedly forced to resign as early as autumn 2023. Meanwhile, other Russian sources connected to the law enforcers reported that the irregular armed formation of "Volunteer Corps", whose curator was allegedly Alekseev, faced the same shortage of arms and shells as the PMC Wagner in early 2023. According to these reports, almost all units of the "Volunteer Corps" have been experiencing an acute shortage of fuel and lubricants for the past two months, especially on the frontline in Bakhmut and Avdiivka.
It was also reported that the "Volunteer Corps" has not yet been able to solve these problems, although it is integrated into the GRU's organisational structure under the 462nd Special Forces Training Centre. A Russian "blogger" with an audience of 150,000 subscribers suggested that the Russian Defence Ministry may be delaying the supply of ammunition for certain units whose functions it considers "less relevant". The blogger noted that Russian Volunteer Corps units are predominantly infantry units, while Russia saves some assets and weaponry - such as the use of aviation - only for certain areas.
ISW stresses that it cannot yet confirm either Alekseev's dismissal in the autumn of 2023 or the reports of a shell shortage that may have affected the Russian "Volunteer Corps". The last public reports about him observed by ISW concerned Alekseev awarding the Russian Airborne Assault Brigade of Española on November 30, 2023. The Russian service of the BBC reported that Alekseev was present during talks with Yevgeny Prigozhin after his mutiny in the summer of 2023, while Radio Svaboda noted that it was Alekseev who Wagner channels referred to as "one of the founders" of the Wagner PMC. Alekseev was also in touch and close to Prigozhin at the headquarters of Russia's Southern Military District (Air Defence Forces) in Rostov-on-Don during the mutiny, and later recorded a video in which he personally asks Prigozhin to stop the mutiny. The Russian service of the BBC reported that Alekseev was one of the main leaders of all "volunteer" irregular formations, in particular the PMC Redut.