Major General Ivan Popov, a former commander who has been heavily criticized by the Russian power center Kremlin, has been sentenced to five years in prison for fraud, reports state-owned Russian media. He will also lose his military rank.
Popov, who is said to be popular in certain military circles, was arrested last spring and charged with bribery.
The year before, he had been dismissed from his role as commander within the army, after he publicly highlighted the high number of dead and injured Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
