Military commander arrested in Russia over frontline failures – ISW

On 2 August, Russian authorities arrested Colonel Dmitry Peshkov, former deputy commander of the 144th Motorised Rifle Division of the 20th Combined Arms Army of the Moscow Military District, on charges of embezzlement of food rations.  

Source: Institute for the Study of War (ISW)

Details: TASS, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet, reported that Russian authorities have detained Peshkov, accusing him of embezzling food rations intended for Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine. Peshkov has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggest that this arrest is likely part of a deliberate Kremlin strategy to oust senior officials from the Russian Ministry of Defence. This manoeuvre could serve as a means to indirectly penalise commanders for their units' shortcomings or to maintain a corps of loyal and obedient officers within the Russian armed forces.

Recently, units of the 144th Motorised Rifle Division have been conducting offensive operations around Terny in Donetsk Oblast and Nevske in Luhansk Oblast, with limited success. They have also recently lost some territory to Ukrainian counterattacks in these areas.

To quote the ISW’s Key Takeaways on 2 August:  

• Brigadier General Andrii Hnatov, Ukrainian Joint Forces and Khortytsia Group of Forces Commander, stressed that Russia is pursuing an effort to force Ukraine to commit its available manpower to ongoing defensive operations in order to prevent the accumulation of Ukrainian resources for future counteroffensive operations.
• Russian Airborne (VDV) and the Dnepr Group of Forces Commander Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky addressed VDV forces (Russian Airborne Forces) in an article and recorded video on the 94th anniversary of the VDV's formation on 2 August, attempting to highlight the VDV's performance in Ukraine as an elite professional force despite the fact that VDV elements are fighting essentially as understrength motorised rifle units in Ukraine.
• Russian authorities arrested the former deputy rear commander of the 144th Motorised Rifle Division (20th Combined Arms Army [CAA], Moscow Military District [MMD]) Colonel Dmitry Peshkov on 2 August.
• The Russian Federation Council passed an updated version of an amendment that will allow commanders to punish subordinates for "gross disciplinary offences," including the use of personal electronic devices, in frontline areas following significant backlash from Russian milbloggers.
• The Russian Federation Council also passed a series of bills strengthening the Russian government's control over the Russian information space and further restricting the rights of migrants in Russia.
• The pro-Kremlin Moldovan Victory opposition electoral bloc announced its candidate for the October 2024 Moldovan presidential election on 2 August.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Toretsk, Avdiivka, and Donetsk City.
• A Russian government official weighed in on ongoing milblogger criticism of Russia's drone production industry.
• A delegation of Kremlin officials visited occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts on 2 August to highlight Russian efforts to integrate occupied Ukraine into the Russian Federation.

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