Russia’s ‘Butcher of Mariupol’ first to go in reported major Defense Ministry purge
Mikhail Mizintsev (Photo:Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation)
The ‘Butcher of Mariupol, the Russian war criminal responsible for the three-month siege of Mariupol, namely Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, has been fired from the Deputy Defense Minister’s post, pro-war Russian Telegram channels reported on April 27.
This is “not the only high-profile dismissal” in the Russian Defense Ministry and “there is an untimely escalation of the struggle within the military and security wing,” wrote Russian propagandist Alexander Sladkov.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on Mizintsev's dismissal, according to propaganda outlets.
Mizintsev oversaw the razing Mariupol and the deaths of tens of thousands of the city’s civilian population.
It was under Mizintsev’s orders that a local maternity hospital, a children’s hospital, civilian homes, and Mariupol’s ill-fated Drama Theater were bombed.
Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the emergency operations center of Odesa Oblast’s Military Administration, said that Mizintsev had given orders to bomb a local maternity hospital, a children's hospital, Mariupol’s ill-fated drama theater, and civilian homes.
It was these ruthless decisions that earned him the moniker ‘Butcher of Mariupol’.
In September 2022, he was appointed Deputy Defense Minister of logistics for the occupying armed forces.
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