A Russian court sentenced a former military commander who had accused his superiors of incompetence to five years in prison on a corruption charge on Thursday. His supporters denounced the punishment as politically motivated.

The commander, Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov, was dismissed from the Russian Army in July 2023, the most widely known casualty of a purge after the failed mutiny of the paramilitary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin. Earlier that year, General Popov had helped repulse a major Ukrainian offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region.

After his dismissal, General Popov addressed his troops in a four-minute recording in which he said he had been removed from his post for speaking truth to his superiors about battlefield problems.