An irate former Russian commander had harsh words for Russia's defeat in Lyman, blaming it on a system of yes-men who are afraid to give bad news. As he launched into his tirade against inept Russian leadership though he was suddenly disconnected from the broadcast.
Gurulyov was one of Russia's top Generals during the occupation of Donbas in 2014, and later accused of war crimes. In February 2022 he ordered Russian forces on an intercepted phone call to:
“Burn them, damn it, burn them! Once you’ve thrown them out of there – finish the house, burn it down! Spit at that f*cking humanism!”
Source: Newsweek
Russian State TV host Sergey Mardan confronted a former military commander on why Russia was unable to prevent Ukraine from taking back Lyman following the defeat.
Russia's loss of Lyman, which is located in the Donetsk region and was being used as a transport and logistics hub, presented a fresh blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin as he escalated the war by annexing four regions of Ukraine.
The Russian State TV host's guest, Andrey Gurulyov, the former deputy commander of Russia's southern military district, said he was unable to give a valid reason for the failings.
The video has since gone viral on Twitter and has been viewed more than 900,000 times after being posted by The Daily Beast's Julia Davis.
And what did he say that was so controversial?
Gurulyov went on to criticize Russian leadership and suggested there was a problem of lying from "top to bottom."
"The problem we have is the constant delivery of good reports, or you can call it constant lying. This system does not go from bottom to the top, but top to bottom."
He was then cut off with the host saying it was due to connectivity issues.
He was later reconnected, according to Davis, but there was no more talk of leadership issues.
The BBC's Steve Rosenberg offered this report on how Russia is dealing with this loss. Not well, it appears.
