Putin Bestows Russia’s Highest Honor on ‘Butcher General’

Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded the country’s most prestigious title—“Hero of Russia” — to Lieutenant General Sukhrab Akhmedov, a commander infamous among his own soldiers for callously sacrificing lives and drowning units in red tape.

The announcement came from Dagestan’s leader, Sergei Melikov, who praised Akhmedov as a “battle-hardened leader” who has supposedly served on the front lines since the earliest days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Sukhrab Sultanovich is a combat commander who never hides behind others and always stands with his men. His courage, determination, and experience have repeatedly enabled the most difficult missions, especially on the critical Kursk front,” Melikov claimed.

But within the ranks, Akhmedov is reviled as one of the Russian military’s most disastrous leaders. Service members have repeatedly accused him of reckless tactics and shocking losses.

In December 2022, while commanding the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade, Akhmedov led a doomed assault on Pavlivka near Vuhledar, resulting in the loss of 300 men and half the brigade’s equipment in just four days. Survivors filed formal complaints about Akhmedov’s decisions to higher authorities.

Akhmedov’s disregard for his troops was on display again in June 2023, while he was leading the 20th Army of the Western Military District.

Soldiers from the 144th Motor Rifle Division were ordered to line up in open terrain near Kreminna, waiting for a tardy commander — only to be struck by Ukrainian HIMARS rockets. The attack left around 100 dead and another 100 wounded.

Mounting outrage within the military eventually forced Akhmedov’s removal from the 20th Army in May 2024. Roman Alekhin, a former Kursk region official and soldier in the “Akhmat” unit, remarked that Akhmedov’s ouster was “celebrated by far more than just a few.”

Yet by early 2025, Akhmedov was back in command—now overseeing Russian forces in the Kursk region.

According to Alekhin, Akhmedov has continued his pattern of deception, submitting glowing but false reports to the Kremlin and blocking frontline troops from receiving well-deserved honors, including the “Hero of Russia” medal itself.

Akhmedov’s management style, critics say, is defined by a suffocating obsession with paperwork and empty displays.

“Officers are forced to fill out 38 different journals every day and endure up to 20 general inspections per month on the Kursk front,” Alekhin wrote.

“Everyone is expected to paint a picture of triumph — reporting tank assaults even when there are no tanks, and spinning stories of soldiers desperate to fight.

And when it comes to logistics, the only wisdom passed down is Suvorov’s ‘Science of Victory’: ‘There’s the enemy—he’s got everything—go and take it.’”

Despite fierce internal criticism, Akhmedov now holds Russia’s highest honor — a move that many see as a symbol of the Kremlin’s disregard for the lives of its own soldiers.