Russia has been forced to call up a retired general, who weighs 127 kg, to be sent to the Ukraine war as its dozens of commanders are being killed on the battlefield. Major General Pavel, 67, was sent to Ukraine after a unit's top officer was severely injured.
Pavel, who is a veteran of Russia's calamitous war in Afghanistan, is now in-charge of troops in eastern Ukraine as Russia is running low on senior military officers.
"Putin is now scraping the barrel. Most of his best and battle-hardened senior commanders have been killed or injured fighting in Ukraine so he is resorting to sending second-rate officers to the front who don't last very long. He is now dragging generals out of retirement and one of those is General Pavel," a source told Daily Star.
The source also compared Putin to a mafia boss and underlined that nobody can refuse him. The source went on to say that if retired military officers receive any message from Putin to participate in the Ukraine war, those retired officers do not have the choice to deny it. They will have to follow Putin's orders, claimed the source.
Pavel Is Now In-Charge of Russian Special Forces
Pavel, who provided his services to the Russian military for more than 40 years, had previously commanded special forces of the military. But it was nearly 25 years back when he was younger and fit for the job.
It's widely believed that five years before retiring from the service, Pavel had played a key role in conflict-ridden Syria.
Who Is Pavel?
The retired general had been living in a Moscow suburb. The source also claimed that Pavel would have rejoined the services after receiving orders from Kremlin.
Pavel Requires Two Sets of Body Armor
Pavel, who weighs 127 kg, requires five meals a day and a liter of vodka. Designing uniforms for Pavel are very difficult because of his weight, therefore his uniforms are specially designed. Ukraine has claimed that Russia has lost nearly 34,000 of its troops in the war. Also, dozens of Putin's military officers have been killed on the battlefield.
Reports have also claimed that Pavel is required to wear two sets of body armor as his body is too big to be covered in one body armor.
