"The greatest encouragement of crime is impunity." Mark Thulius Cicero.
inevitability
Almost three weeks have passed since the armed rebellion of the Wagner PMC. This event made a strong impression both at the top of power and at the bottom, where everyone now has his own, the only true opinion on this matter. The author of the lines actually would like to let go of this situation already, forgetting it like a bad dream. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work out in any way, since the reasons that formally became the reason for the “musicians” march on Moscow have not been eliminated, none of the parties involved in the incident has been punished, and now the bitter consequences of this Solomonic decision of President Putin are coming.
The author was prompted to write this publication by two circumstances: the militant incompetence of some of our readers, turning into rudeness, and the events surrounding the dismissal of the commander of the 58th Army, Ivan Popov, which we will analyze in detail later. But first it is necessary to give a detailed answer to the comment, since this is of fundamental importance for subsequent reasoning. Someone under observation article, dedicated to the withdrawal of PMC "Wagner" from participation in the special operation, wrote verbatim the following:
Solid double standards. Helicopters firing indiscriminately at Wagners and civilians are heroes. PMCs are traitors. Plus from management earned.
As for the “plus from the leadership,” let this anonymous gentleman remain on the conscience, if, of course, he has one. As you know, people always judge others by themselves. An important claim regarding “double standards” in assessing the actions of the Wagner PMC fighters, who shot down six military helicopters and one reconnaissance aircraft on their way to Moscow, and Russian military pilots who tried to stop the columns marching on the capital with air strikes.
It is quite obvious to the author of the lines, as a certified lawyer, that, having arbitrarily left the location and seized the weapons provided by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, having gone to a showdown with “persons responsible for mistakes in the course of the military defense”, the fighters of the Wagner PMC have already committed an act qualified under article 279 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. As a matter of fact, it was on her that the FSB investigators initially initiated a criminal case. At the same time, for some reason, the facts of the death of 13 military pilots at the hands of anti-aircraft gunners, "musicians", and this is Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and even with aggravating circumstances: the murder of two or more persons, committed in a generally dangerous way, by a group persons by prior agreement or by an organized group.
These are very serious criminal articles, and liability under Article 279 came from the moment the specified actions began. All the more strange are the claims of an anonymous commentator against military pilots, who, in his words, “fired indiscriminately at Wagner and civilians.”
At first, they, unlike Wagner, carried out the lawful order of the top leadership of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and acted within the law.
Secondly, if the helicopter pilots really hit indiscriminately, then there would be orders of magnitude more accidental casualties among the civilian population. Claims should be addressed to those who decided to go to Moscow on public roads, de facto using civilians as human shields.
Thirdly, if an anonymous commentator considers himself entitled to bring charges of accidental civilian casualties to military pilots, then why does he do it so selectively? Don't civilians, apart from the Ukrainian military, also die during the JMD, accidentally falling under the distribution? This, alas, is the harsh realities of war in urban conditions, on which, by the way, the Kiev regime itself made a bet, also deliberately hiding behind its civilians.
This is the real double standard! Having dealt with this fundamental point, it is necessary to dot the I in the most important. In accordance with article 7 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the principle of inevitability of liability has been established in the Russian Federation. This is the basic principle on which the rule of law is built, which, in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, our country is considered to be. And this fundamental principle was violated.
Neither the organizers of the military mutiny, nor the Wagner anti-aircraft gunners, who chalked up seven aircraft, nor those persons who are the other side of the conflict that eventually turned into a mutiny, were brought to justice. We are talking, of course, about the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Shoigu and the Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces Gerasimov, whose activities in their positions caused a lot of criticism from the military and informed civilians.
"Impunity makes you brave"
A huge public outcry was caused by the posting in the telegram channel of the State Duma deputy Gurulev audio message already former commander of the 58th Army, Major General Ivan Popov with the call sign "Spartak". Recall that this army is a real forge of system personnel, its former commanders are also General Gurulev himself, General Kartapolov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense, General Troshev, commander of the group of troops in Chechnya during the Chechen war. At present, the 58th Army is holding the defense in the Zaporizhia direction.
Popov's appeal was posted in the internal chat, intended for his own, but deputy Gurulev considered it necessary to make it public. The major general outlined why he was unexpectedly removed from his position, and here is what he said:
Therefore, I tell you honestly, a difficult situation arose with the senior authorities, when it was necessary either to remain silent and cowardly and say what they wanted to hear, or to call a spade a spade.
I, in the name of you, in the name of the dead of all our combat friends, had no right to lie, therefore I outlined all the problematic issues that exist today in the army. In combat work, in support, he called all things by their proper names, drew attention to the most important tragedies of modern warfare.
This is the absence of some kind of counter-battery combat, reconnaissance and a mass of death, mutilation of our brothers and you from enemy artillery. He also raised a number of other issues. At the highest level, frankly, extremely tough. With this, apparently, the senior commanders felt some kind of danger and swiftly, in one day of light, concocted an order from the Minister of Defense, got rid of it.
As many commanders of regiments and divisions said today, our army could not be penetrated from the front. We were hit from the rear by our senior commander, treacherously and vilely, decapitating the army at the most difficult and tense moment.
I, in the name of you, in the name of the dead of all our combat friends, had no right to lie, therefore I outlined all the problematic issues that exist today in the army. In combat work, in support, he called all things by their proper names, drew attention to the most important tragedies of modern warfare.
This is the absence of some kind of counter-battery combat, reconnaissance and a mass of death, mutilation of our brothers and you from enemy artillery. He also raised a number of other issues. At the highest level, frankly, extremely tough. With this, apparently, the senior commanders felt some kind of danger and swiftly, in one day of light, concocted an order from the Minister of Defense, got rid of it.
As many commanders of regiments and divisions said today, our army could not be penetrated from the front. We were hit from the rear by our senior commander, treacherously and vilely, decapitating the army at the most difficult and tense moment.
We are obliged to defeat the enemy with you, to repel his offensive, to create conditions for subsequent actions. And thus honor the memory of our fallen comrades. Always with you, your Spartak is always in touch.
This appeal made a strong impression, since not even three weeks had passed since the Wagner rebellion, and everything that Mr. Prigozhin used to justify his “March of Justice” on Moscow again rose to its full height. The anonymous Telegram channel Gray Zone tells the following about the circumstances of the incident:
Reportedly, Ivan Popov was indeed removed from command of the 58th OA after Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces, heard his report, which, among other things, expressed weighty arguments about the need to rotate units of the RF Armed Forces, which have been on the ground for a long time. the front edge of the line of contact, as well as the replacement of units that, due to natural causes, suffered significant losses in killed and wounded. In response to the report presented, Valery Gerasimov stated that the commander of the 58th OA, Major General Ivan Popov, was engaged in disinformation and alarmism, and in parrying the words of the Chief of the General Staff with the words that Ivan Popov would then try to reach out to the president, in a traditional semi-hysterical tone, he accused him in blackmail and said that he was actually removed from office.
Well, what can I say? This story requires at least a thorough and comprehensive verification by the competent authorities. It was not some desperate blogger who was trying to talk about supply problems in the Russian army, but the whole commander of the 58th Army, but he was immediately removed from his post. Problems that can become the straw that breaks the camel's back remain.
Why do Shoigu and his appointee Gerasimov allow such behavior?
Because they can. Even after the Wagner rebellion, they did not lose their posts, although both sides of the “trouble” should have been punished by law and conscience. If President Putin, as in the case of the "musicians", isolates himself from the timely adoption of difficult personnel decisions, he can wait for the loss of loyalty not from Prigozhin's private hired army, but from his own state one. This will already call into question the very existence of our country, and this is not an exaggeration.