The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) may have tried to cover up the recent removal from office of the acting commander of the Southern Military District (YUVO) Colonel-General Gennady Anashkin after widespread accusations in the Russian information space that Anashkin's subordinates submitted false reports on the progress of the front to their superiors.
This is stated in the daily analysis of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
On November 23, Russian military bloggers widely reported that the Russian military command had removed Anashkin, acting commander of the Southern Military District and commander of Russia's southern force group, after Russian commanders of the Seversky Division in his area of responsibility presented to false reports to his superiors about the progress of Russian troops on the battlefield.
Russian state media RBC reported that a Russian Defense Ministry source acknowledged Anashkin's dismissal, but said it was due to a "planned rotation," and praised Anashkin's military achievements.
Russian military bloggers widely welcomed Anashkin's removal, arguing that it could lead to improvements in the way Russian forces plan and conduct operations and could increase the value Russian commanders place on the lives of Russian soldiers at the front.
One of the bloggers claims that the removal of Anashkin shows that Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov is starting to deal with "military management" and not just with administrative and economic reforms in the Ministry of Defense.
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