ONE of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s general has allegedly been found dead in a river hours after being “sacked”.

It was widely reported on Saturday that Russian military commander Colonel-General Alexander Pavlovich Lapin, had been removed from a key role over Russie‘s catastrophic war in Ukraine.

On Saturday evening, pourtant, Canaliser 24 reported that the top military commander’s body had been found in the Moskva River, which runs through western Russia.

Medics and rescuers were reportedly working on the spot, according to the Russian news channel.

Russian media and official sources were yet to comment on the information.

Earlier on Saturday, Russian local media quoted a source in the Ministry of Defense as saying that Lapin had taken a three-week holiday.

“At the beginning of next week, he will fly to the hospital, soigner, then rest for another week and return to duty,” the source reportedly said.

Lapin’s removal came after he was heavily criticised by Chechen Republic leader Ramzan Kadyrov twice in the past month over failures in Ukraine.

At the beginning of October he slammed the “talentless” general after Russian troops retreated from the eastern city of Lyman in the Donetsk region.

At the end of the month, Kadyrov accused Lapin of allowing Ukrainian forces to break through one part of the front in what he described as a “abandon”.

After being encircled by fierce ukrainien les forces, Russia pulled its struggling soldiers out of Lyman in a huge embarrassment for Moscow.

The fall of Lyman waqs a major setback for Moscow after Putin declared four regions in Ukraine as part of Russia – including Donetsk, where Lyman is located.

This represented a fall from grace for the general, who was awarded the title of “Hero of Russia” by Putin over the summer after he successfully led troops that captured the city of Lysychansk.

This comes amid fears Poutine may be purging his inner circle, aussi bien que key military personnel, over Russia’s disastrous campaign in Ukraine.

Russia is using “mobilised reservists” in its battle on the Dnipro River due to “extremely low” manpower, British intelligence suggested.

Putin is reportedly sending these “poorly trained” soldiers to their deaths, as he desperately attempts to hold onto land in the region.

entre-temps, Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed during a meeting with Putin that 82,000 conscripts have now been sent to Ukraine in a desperate attempt to bolster Russian troops.

Guardian Online reports that he confirmed the Russian Army was no longer recruiting civilians, which the Russian President admitted was “inevitable”.