‘Drunk’ Russian colonel Alexei Ksenofontov sending troops to their deaths sparks TV row

Col Alexei Ksenofontov was made a ‘Hero of Russia’ in April. Photo / Astra

A Kremlin propaganda ploy to deflect criticism away from a “drunk” front-line commander renowned for ordering soldiers on suicide missions has backfired.

Vladimir Solovyov, the host of state TV Rossiya-One’s daily chat show, last month described soldiers’ widows as liars for accusing Colonel Alexei Ksenofontov of being drunk and then sending their husbands to their deaths.

He told his audience that he personally knew Colonel Ksenofontov, who was made a “Hero of Russia” in April.

“Alexei is a normal commander, a thinking commander capable of competently preparing and carrying out a task,” he said.

“They have slandered a hero.”

But instead of silencing the mourning women, Solovyov’s intervention has heaped more embarrassment on to the Kremlin by triggering new accusations and giving ordinary Russians a rare glimpse of the medieval techniques used by their military commanders.

Dozens of messages from angry women

Astra, the Russian opposition Telegram news channel that published the original complaints, said it had received dozens of messages in the past few weeks from angry women.

“After his [show], dozens of relatives of the military contacted the editorial office responding to Solovyov,” it said this week, before posting several more accusations on its Telegram channel.

Some of these criticisms were also posted directly on social media channels.

One woman wrote on the Kremlin-controlled VK social media website that she wanted Colonel Ksenofontov, whose call sign is “Tiger”, to die as her husband had.

“Solovyov, interview all of us. Look how many women are cursing your Ksenofontov. Talk to the women who wish death to the Tiger,” she wrote.

Criticising the Russian army comes at great risk for people living in Russia. Police arrest people for the slightest indiscretion and charge them with “discrediting the Russian army”, which carries a prison sentence.

Mothers and wives of soldiers in Russia were considered to have some leeway for criticising the Government, but earlier this year, police detained several women and have now classified a group that had pushed for men mobilised into the army in 2022 to be given a break as a “foreign agent”. This is a derogatory term and makes it far harder for the group to operate.

Even so, in new comments published this week by Astra, Alina Bolvinova described how a drunk Colonel Ksenofontov had ordered her husband on a suicide mission near the town of Avdiivka in February without ammunition for his rifle.

“They were sent out as cannon fodder,” she said. “Can a mentally healthy person give such orders? A person who does not enjoy killing. I think not.”

The Kremlin has deployed mass infantry tactics over the past few months to push forward its front line, suffering more than 1000 casualties every day.

The Russian military leadership has been heavily criticised throughout the war for its barbaric methods.

Last month, two Russian drone operators posted a video accusing their commander of ordering them on a suicide mission in revenge for an argument. Another video showed an enraged Russian commander punching young soldiers in the face.