Supreme Commander of the Russian Army wounded?

Supreme Commander of the Russian Army wounded?

The absence of the leader of the joint headquarters of the army, Army General Valery Gerasimov, is perhaps the most significant in this year's procession on the occasion of Victory Day in Russia.

This year's parade was the first in which the highest general of the Russian army did not appear, along with President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the third man holding the keys to Russia's nuclear arsenal.

Unlike Gerasimov, Shoigu was part of the procession on Monday.

The Kremlin did not say a word about the absence of a member of the General Staff, nor did it explain the reasons for his absence from the celebration.

According to Western sources, Gerasimov personally traveled to Ukraine at the end of April, where he was to personally take over the operational and tactical command over the forces in the Russian offensive on Donbas from the direction of Izyum.

Wounded in Ukraine?

On May 1, Ukrainian sources reported that Gerasimov was wounded in the attack on the command post near Izyum, and allegedly suffered shrapnel wounds in the thigh.

This news was also transmitted by the Russian independent portal Agentstvo, which claimed that a piece of shrapnel was removed from Gerasimov and that the general was first transported to Belgrade in a stable condition by a Mi-8 transport helicopter, and then boarded the Tu-154 transport plane of the Ministry of Defense.

Since then, all trace of him has been lost, but some sources state that witnesses saw him get on the plane alone, without help, and that he looked healthy. "Did he have another job? Is he recovering from the wound? Was he cut out of the picture?" Wrote the former commander of the U.S. forces in Europe, General Ben Hodges, on Twitter.

In a speech on the occasion of Victory Day and the military parade in the central square in Moscow on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin paid tribute to the Russian armed forces in the Ukrainian Donbas, saying that the homeland is being defended there.

Russia's struggle for security

Soldiers and volunteers who are fighting in Donbas, in the east of Ukraine, are fighting for the security of Russia, they are fighting for the homeland, Putin said on Red Square.

"Fight for your homeland, for its future," Putin told soldiers at the annual, traditional parade marking the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. "The defense of the homeland has always been sacred when deciding on its fate.

Today, you are fighting for our people in Donbas, for the security of Russia, our homeland," he continued. He recalled that Russia promised to "liberate" Donbass from Kyiv, and added that people there were exposed to great aggression, and that they were "burned alive".

He also said that the death of every soldier and officer is painful for Russia and that the state will do everything to take care of their families. In his speech, he evoked the memory of Soviet heroism in the Second World War and called on his army to achieve victory.

The speech ended with a shout to the gathered soldiers: "For Russia. For victory".