Don’t miss a thing! Sign up to the Daily Star’s newsletter

A furious Vladimir Putin is 'firing and arresting' his top brass over the botched invasion of Ukraine, according to reports.

The claims of a purge by the warmongering leader come after a top adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian top commander General Valery Gerasimov has been suspended, with several other officers believed to have been sacked.

Oleksiy Arestovych, an important intelligence figure in Zelensky's inner circle, reported on Wednesday (May 11) that Gerasimov, the chief of staff of the Russian army, had been suspended.

Gerasimov wasn’t seen at Russia’s Victory Day parade on Monday (May 9), which saw Putin and his generals appear in front of large crowds of soldiers to pledge victory against the West in Ukraine and commemorate the Soviet Union's victory in World War 2.

Intelligence expert Arestovych said Gerasimov had been suspended, and Putin was now deliberating over whether he should give the 66-year-old general time to redeem himself after extraordinary losses of personnel and equipment.

Revealing another high-profile move by the President against his own military, Arestovych added: “The commander of the first tank army of the western military district Lieutenant General Sergei Kisel has also been arrested and fired after the first tank army was defeated near Kharkiv.”

A Telegram feed run by the interior ministry in Kyiv also claimed this week that Commander of the Black Sea Fleet Admiral Igor Osipov had been removed from his post and arrested.

An investigation had been launched into first deputy commander of the fleet, Vice Admiral Sergei Pinchuk, according to the messaging channel.

It follows unconfirmed reports that Gerasimov was wounded during fighting during a visit to Ukraine's Donbas region last week.

A senior U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity told reporters that they could "confirm he was in the Donbas" but were not able to establish whether he had been injured.

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.

• Russia Ukraine war

Source: Read Full Article