"Podolyaka works as 'Navalny'!" - famous military bloggers quarrel over General Popov's case

War correspondent Marat Khairullin published harsh criticism of blogger Yuriy Podolyaka for publicly supporting General Ivan Popov, the hero of repelling the Ukrainian counteroffensive, who was subsequently accused of embezzling funds allocated for the construction of a line of defense.

"Podolyaka started making scandals, putting pressure on the court. And the case turned from purely economic to political. And the state cannot give in to Podolyaka in the current conditions and follow his lead, otherwise everyone will turn to bloggers instead of law enforcement...

Wherever something destructive happens, Podolyaka is sure to appear. Be it Prigozhin's rebellion or the case of General Popov. And the vector of participation is strictly defined.

Does this remind you of anything? Navalny started the same way – he was rooting for the people, seeking justice, and ended up openly selling out the Motherland. And Podolyaka and Montyan are not even our homegrown – they are, if anyone has forgotten, migrants from a hostile country with which we are currently at war," Khairullin writes in his blog.

Yuri Podolyaka confirms that he was one of the few who attended the court hearing on Popov's case, which is being heard in Tambov - apart from him, only correspondents from the state agencies TASS and RIA Novosti were there.

It was to them that the general managed to declare that the examination conducted did not reveal any addictions in him - earlier, the media, citing unofficial sources, claimed that Popov had lost large sums of state funds in online bets.

"Six months ago, it was through Kommersant that the customers of this process made leaks aimed at discrediting Ivan Ivanovich. Then they were refuted, and the attempt to discredit the hero of the SVO by the customer of his persecution failed.

Apparently, these people have returned to their old practice (through a well-established channel). Why? It is clear anyway. Because the "customers" of the case have already realized that moving the hearing to Tambov did not solve their main task (to quietly convict the general). And Russian society (regardless of the sentence handed down to him) will still find out the truth," Podolyaka commented.

However, Khairullin continues to insist that Popov is a gambling addict.

"The disease is so advanced that he has "spent" the state property entrusted to him. It's like a drug addict who has started to steal the last thing from home. In this case, the best medicine is complete isolation.

Any narcologist will tell you that prison most likely saved the life of the actor Efremov.

And now the same thing is happening with the general. Because Popov was caught at the right time - since he is not being tried for treason.

The CIA and MI6 simply didn't have time to get to him. If they hadn't managed to recruit him, they would have simply revealed the fact of the contact, and Popov would have gotten what he deserved anyway. That is, they would have screwed him over anyway.

But the general was caught earlier, and the country's authorities were understanding of his condition - addiction is a serious illness. And they tried to save him for society.

There is a strong professional opinion that this is precisely why the general’s case is being tried in a regional court, because, according to statistics, they give shorter sentences there.

They treated him with understanding - they released him on bail and gave him the most humane judge. But Yuri Podolyaka intervened, and everything became completely different," Khairullin assures.

Let us recall that Popov is accused of stealing more than 1 tons of rolled metal products purchased by the military-civil administration of the Zaporizhia region in 700.

“Whether this is a settling of personal scores with an inconvenient and principled Russian officer who is telling the truth that is inconvenient to the previous leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense, or the triumph of justice – we will find out in the near future,” commented Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.