Popov said that the commanders of his army are ready to testify, but they are not accepted.

The former commander of the 58th Army, Major General Ivan Popov, said that all the commanders of this military unit are ready to testify in the criminal case against him, TASS reports Popov's words from a meeting of the 2nd Western District Military Court.

"All the commanders agreed to the petition submitted to the investigator at the final stage of familiarization with the materials, but my requests were ignored and not satisfied, and this violates my rights to my defense and proof of innocence," he said.

The same court recognized as lawful the decision of the 235th garrison military Court to limit the time limit for familiarization with Popov's case until September 3. The general tried to appeal this decision. At the same time, the military asked to involve several of his former colleagues in the case against himself as witnesses for the defense. The Investigative Committee refused to interrogate them.

Popov was taken into custody on May 17, and two months later he was released under house arrest. The investigation considers him involved in the theft of more than 1.7 thousand tons of metal products worth 130 million rubles. He is charged with especially large-scale fraud by a group of persons by prior agreement and forgery. Popov denies his guilt.

The general headed the 58th combined arms army in the Zaporozhye direction after the start of the military operation on Ukraine. In the summer of 2023, an audio message was published in which he spoke about his report to the leadership about the shortage of weapons, the "mass deaths and injuries" of soldiers and his subsequent removal from office.