The military chief has had a torrid time on the battlefield having lost many men.
09:43, Wed, Jan 14, 2026 Updated: 09:48, Wed, Jan 14, 2026
One of Putin's top military chiefs has reportedly been fired again (Image: Getty)
Vladimir Putin has suffered a fresh humiliation as a top Russian general has reportedly been sacked again. The Russian Navy Deputy Commander for Coastal and Ground Forces, Lieutenant General Sukhrab Akhmedov, has been denounced as an incompetent and a butcher due to a poor record on the battlefield.
In July 2025, Putin awarded him with Moscow's highest honour, the “Hero of Russia” award, despite his leading its 155th Naval Infantry Brigade when, within just four days, it lost around 300 soldiers and half of its equipment after a series of chaotic attacks on the town of Pavlivka in the Donetsk region of Ukraine in 2022.
Akhmedov was dismissed from his post as commander of the 20th Army in May 2024. It has been reported by EurAsia Daily that the reason for the loss of the military chief's latest post was "an illiterate column attack" on the Ukrainian city of Dobropillya in December that "entailed unjustified and ineffectual losses."
Russian General Sukhrab Akhmedov has reportedly been fired after a series of disastrous attacks near the Ukrainian city of Dobropillya before Christmas.
This is the second time Akhmedov has been fired from a command role due to unacceptable casualties. pic.twitter.com/K9Ixbb1PZ8
The Insitute for the Study of War (ISW) Tsaid in its daily report: "The Russian military command reportedly removed Akhmedov from his command of the 20nd CAA in May 2024 following Russian information space complaints about his command of the highly attritional assaults near Vuhledar, Donetsk Oblast in Winter 2022-2023 as 155th Naval Infantry Brigade commander and additional complaints about his role in a Ukrainian strike against a Russian rear area near Kreminna, Luhansk Oblast in Summer 2023 that resulted in significant casualties."
Experts also noted that Russian military bloggers claimed that Akhmedov was dismissed from his most recent position due to failed Russian mechanised assaults in the Dobropillya tactical area that resulted in heavy casualties in December 2025.
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One Russian blogger also claimed that Akhmedov oversaw elements of the 55th and 155th naval infantry brigades, of the Pacific Fleet, and 810th Naval Infantry Brigade, of the Black Sea Fleet, when they suffered heavy losses in northern Sumy Oblast, specialists added.
"Russian forces exploited a tactical breakthrough toward Dobropillya in August 2025 and seized a narrow salient that they failed to hold, and Ukrainian forces have since recaptured much of this territory," the ISW wrote.
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