Putin dismisses General Muradov, who failed offensive on Vuhledar - media

Two military sources told The Moscow Times.

The 50-year-old Muradov, who previously commanded Russian forces in Syria and then led a peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh, was dismissed after a failed offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Near Vuhledar in February, Muradov left his army in minefields and under fire from Ukrainian artillery, losing two elite marine brigades, 103 pieces of equipment, including 36 tanks (according to Oryx estimates) in three days. At the same time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost only 20 pieces of equipment.

Earlier, Muradov's resignation was reported by pro-war z-channels only 7 months after his appointment (October 5, 2022). The general was removed from his post due to military failures and losses, the source confirmed. After all, the capture of Vuhledar could have allowed the Russian army to bypass Ukrainian fortifications around Avdiivka and open the way for a broad offensive in Donbas.

But despite the losses, which the British Ministry of Defense estimated at 500 people a day, the army has failed. "Muradov was removed because he was a crazy idiot who was capable of ordering soldiers to go to their deaths," a source told The Moscow Times. "Many people complained about him.”

Igor Girkin (Strelkov), the former DPR defense minister convicted in The Hague for striking a Boeing over Donbas, called the commanders at Vuhledar "complete morons," while Grey Zone, the semi-official telegram channel of Wagner's PMC, threatened to "kill commanders who were sitting in the headquarters.

"Every time Muradov sent his forces to attack with small mechanized formations through minefields and open terrain, they achieved nothing at Vuhledar," says military analyst Mike Coffman.

However, the change of commander in an important section of the front is unlikely to help the army make any progress, he said: "There are key problems with the quality of the forces, with junior commanders, which cannot be solved easily. This is not a matter of changing tactics."

• Back in late March, ISW analysts reported that the commanders of two military districts had resigned due to the failures of the Russian army in Ukraine. It was Muradov and the commander of the Western Military District, Colonel-General Yevgeny Nikiforov.