Top Russian general sacked for massive defeats in Ukraine dies from 'long illness' in Moscow sparking poison rumours
17 August 2023, 12:21
A Russian commander who got sacked for massive defeats in Ukraine has died of an illness in Moscow - triggering speculation he was poisoned.
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Colonel General Gennady Zhidko took control of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in May 2022, after it stalled in the wake of stiff Ukrainian resistance.
He launched attacks to take Lysychansk and Severodonetsk in the eastern Donbas region.
But he was removed from his command later that year as the Ukrainians counter attacked, eventually liberating huge territories in the north east around Kharkiv and retaking Kherson city in the south.
Zhidko's death was announced by Mikhail Degtyarev, the governor of Khabarovsk in the far east of Russia.
He said Zhidko had suffered from a "long illness", triggering speculation he could have been poisoned. There were other claims he had terminal cancer.
Zhidko was sanctioned by the UK, the EU and the US last year.
He was made a Hero of Russia during his time in the military, and worked as a deputy defence minister while being considered one of the country's best strategic minds.
He also took control of Russian forces in Syria, during their bloody intervention to prop up the dictator Bashar al-Assad.
The genera; took control of the invading forces from Aleksandr Dvornikov, who was nicknamed the "Butcher of Syria", after the attack failed to capture Kyiv and stalled in the east and south.
Reflecting on the chaos in the Russian command, when it was often unclear who was meant to be in charge in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War said earlier this year: "Putin's reasoning for appointing Dvornikov and Zhidko specifically is unclear, although he may have chosen them because of their likely affiliations with Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Army General Valery Gerasimov."
When he was removed from command, he was replaced with Sergey Surovikin, another top officer who was nicknamed "General Armageddon". He would then go on to be replaced by the most senior soldier in Russia, Gerasimov.
Zhidko's replacements have fared little better. Although Bakhmut was secured at great cost after human waves attack from the later-rebellious Wagner group, Russia has focused on defending its captured territory from Ukrainian probing counter attacks.
It was claimed by pro-Telegram accounts that Zhidko participated in the invasion of Ukraine despite his apparent illness, and was replaced because of his condition and not the losses he oversaw.
