Top Russian army general who was purged by Putin & replaced with ‘General Armageddon’ dies after mystery illness

A LEADING Russian General has been found dead from a mystery illness after being purged from the military command.

Colonel-General Gennady Zhidko, 58, has barely been seen in public over the past few months after being replaced as head of the war effort in Ukraine by "General Armageddon" Sergei Surovikin.

The Readovka news website, which is loyal to the Putin regime, reported that Zhidko had died after a "lengthy illness".

His death was also confirmed by Khabarovsk regional governor Mikhail Degtyarev, another Kremlin loyalist.

However, there has been no official announcement yet and neither report mentioned where he died.

Zhidko was effectively placed in charge of the Ukraine war effort in April 2022 after General Alexander Dvornikov, known as the "Butcher of Syria", was ousted from his role.

However, he himself was given the boot that October when Russian forces failed to capture the city of Kharkiv.

His successor Surovikin has since fallen out of favour and is believed to have been detained over suspicions he knew of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's plan to stage a coup in June this year.

The coup ultimately failed, leading to Prigozhin's exile to Belarus and a number of military figures being purged from the ranks.

During his military career, Zhidko was made a Hero of Russia, the nation's highest award, for his work in a number of top positions and was seen as one of the country's top strategic brains.

Before his removal, he had worked as deputy defence minister, overseen Russian forces in Syria and served as deputy chief of the armed forces general staff.

He was also named on the list of Russian officials sanctioned by the UK for their role in the brutal invasion of Ukraine last February.