Russia arrests assault detachment commander who fought in Ukraine - ISW

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said this in a new report, Ukrinform reports.

ISW analysts drew attention to messages published by Russian actress Yana Poplovskaya, numerous Russian milbloggers (including supporters of arrested former Russian officer Igor Girkin), and Russian neo-nationalist outlet Tsargrad on September 13, who reported on Novikov's arrest. Poplovskaya published an appeal asking Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov to return Novikov to the frontlines, noting that Novikov had played a key role in the Russian seizure of Avdiivka and Krasnohorivka, has three state courage orders, and has received many of letters from his subordinates demanding his release.

Poplovskaya and a Russian milblogger, who claims to have worked alongside Novikov, claimed that Novikov was arrested after he attempted to stop Chechens from trafficking drugs to his servicemen. Poplavska stated that the Chechens filed a false complaint against Novikov for revenge. And Poplovskaya stated that Chechens made a false complaint about Novikov in retaliation, and a milblogger affiliated with Novikov implied that the Russian military command may not have approved of Novikov's efforts to teach Russian military personnel and Storm-Z convicts to neutralize Ukrainian drone threats. The milblogger added that he and Novikov independently developed a counter-drone system called "seizure of the small sky" with the aim of training Russian counter-drone specialists and that this initiative was against the staff’s protocol.

Russian officials did not publicly acknowledge Novikov's arrest, and Belousov has yet to respond to any appeals.

" Tsargrad notably linked Novikov's arrest to the recent deaths of prominent Russian milbloggers and drone operators of the 87th Separate Rifle Regiment of the 1st "Slavic" Motorized Rifle Brigade (51st CAA) Dmitry Lysakovsky (better known under the alias Goodwill) and Lieutenant Colonel Sergey Gritsai (also known as Ernest). Tsargrad implied that the deaths and Novikov’s arrest could be related because both Lysakovsky and Gritsai also expressed concerns over drug usage in combat.

The two cases, however, may be linked by the Russian military's command increasing desperation to generate more infantrymen to maintain the initiative in Pokrovsk and Donetsk City directions. Russian sources noted that the assault took place shortly after the Russian military command disbanded Lysakovsky's and Gritsai's drone detachment.

Russian milblogger and former Storm-Z instructor claimed that the Russian military command increasingly began to use service members in the 1st "Slavic" Motorized Rifle Brigade, especially niche specialized detachments, in assaults and that the leadership of 51st CAA follows the motto of "we do not need smart people, we are smart ourselves. We need assaults [and] meat."

"Novikov's efforts to train Storm-Z elements to operate counter-drone systems may have contradicted the Russian military command's intended use of these elements as purely "disposable" assault infantrymen. ISW had previously observed the Russian higher military command dismiss and imprison some popular and effective military commanders who raised concerns about the tempo of Russian operations and persistent issues with Russia's campaign in Ukraine," ISW said.