Thursday, December 29, 2022

PUTIN'S CURSE
Top former Russian commander dies ‘suddenly' day after Putin cancels trip to tank factory: Report

An ex-Russian commander with a Ukraine link died "suddenly" a day after President Vladimir Putin cancelled his visit to tank factory, a report said.


India Today Web Desk
New Delhi, Dec 29, 2022 

By India Today Web Desk: A former commander-in-chief of Russian ground forces with a close link to Ukraine died “suddenly” the day after Vladimir Putin unexpectedly cancelled a trip to the tank enterprise where he worked, reported The Mirror.

Uralvagonzavod plant announced that General Alexei Maslov, 69, passed away on December 25 in a Moscow military hospital.

General Alexei Maslov was commander-in-chief of Russian ground forces between 2004 and 2008 and later served as the country’s chief military representative to Nato in Brussels. Maslov’s death follows the “sudden death” of general director of Admiralty Shipyards in St Petersburg, Alexander Buzakov.

According to Telegram channel Redacted number 6, the FSB security service had formed an “investigative group” into the two deaths, reported The Mirror.

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The channel reported that Buzakov had been healthy the day before he died, and “nothing had been heard about Maslov's health problems” before he died.



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The report said that the Russian president was due to visit the Uralvagonzavod plant in Nizhny Tagil - which has been criticised by the Kremlin for failing to produce sufficient new tanks for the war in Ukraine.

However, the Russian president aborted the Christmas eve trip “at the last minute” with no explanation, according to local reports.

Rogozin - recovering in hospital from an injury in a Ukrainian shell attack last week - praised Maslov as “a very experienced military man, a demanding commander, and a good person,” reported the Mirror.


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By Caitlin McFall | Fox News

Another sudden death of a top official in Russia’s military supply chain has been reported following a series unexplained deaths in the past week.

Alexei Fedorovich Maslov, former commander in chief of Russia’s ground forces turned special representative for the military corporation Uralvagonzavod — which specializes in battle tanks — was reported to have unexpectantly died at a military hospital on Christmas Day at the age of 70.

The company took to Telegram to announce his death and said he "remained faithful" to Russia "until his last day."




An abandoned Russian military tank is seen after Russian Forces withdrew from Balakliia as Russia-Ukraine war continues on September 15, 2022 in Balakliia, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. (Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

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Maslov was reportedly born in the Kursk region, which neighbors northern Ukraine, and entered the Army before graduating from the Kharkiv Guards Higher Tank Command School in 1974 — nearly two decades before the fall of the Soviet Union, reported Euro Weekly.

By 2008 Maslov became Russia’s chief military representative to NATO.

No explanation surrounding his death has been provided, though he appeared to die in Moscow at the N.N. Burdenko Main Military Clinical Hospital — over 1,000 miles west of the Uralvagonzavod plant where he allegeldy worked in the city of Nizhny Tagil.

Some reports suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin was supposed to visit the tank manufacturing plant on Christmas Eve but unexpectedly canceled his plans, though Fox News Digital could not independently verify this.

Russian President Putin watches the launch of a missile during naval exercises in Russia's Arctic North on board the nuclear missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky. 

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Maslov’s death also followed the unexpected passing of 67-year-old Alexander Buzakov on Dec. 24, the General Director of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, Admiralty Shipyards, which produces carriers for Kalibr cruise missiles among others.

According to its website, Admiralty Shipyards has been described as the "foundation" of Russia’s navy and Buzakov reportedly attended the launch of the new submarine, Velikiye Luki, in St. Petersburg on Friday, Dec. 23.

Buzakov championed the submarine as an important step forward for Russia’s naval ability.

"It symbolizes the end of a certain major stage and, of course, promises us many successful final steps in the construction of the vessel and its handover to the Navy," he said according to Naval News.


Russian Navy ships are docked in the Sevastopol bay on March 4, 2014. Russian forces have surrounded Ukrainian military bases across Crimea as the Russian-speaking autonomous region has been thrown into turmoil following the ouster last month of Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych. (VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP via Getty Images)

The submarine is reportedly a part of a fourth generation non-nuclear fleet that is considered the "most modern" submarine in terms of combat power.

Details around Buzakov’s death also remain unknown.

Buzakov and Maslov’s deaths are just the latest in string of unexpected deaths among Russia’s top ranks, businessmen and dissidents since the war in Ukraine began.

Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news.



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