Putin Speaks With 76th Division Commander Shikhabidov, Undercutting 2025 Death Reports
Updated
Updated · Букви · Aug 8
Putin Speaks With 76th Division Commander Shikhabidov, Undercutting 2025 Death Reports
3 articles · Updated · Букви · Aug 8
Summary
A Kremlin transcript and TASS audio showed Vladimir Putin speaking on August 6 with Abdulaziz Shikhabidov, the commander of Russia’s 76th Guards Air Assault Division, despite widespread 2025 reports that he had died.
Shikhabidov told Putin Russian troops on the Dobropillia direction remained in a “cheerful, confident” mood and could meet assigned deadlines; Putin called the 76th Division “legendary” and wished him success.
May 2025 memorials at two Dagestan schools, pro-Kremlin media reports and Z-blogger claims of a burial at Moscow’s Troekurovskoye Cemetery had fueled the death narrative, though no official confirmation or denial ever came.
Agentstvo later reported Shikhabidov’s passport and other documents were still valid, and his appearance in official Kremlin communications now sharply weakens the earlier claims.
The 76th Division, which Shikhabidov has led since March 2025, was previously linked by Reuters to atrocities in Bucha in 2022, giving the commander’s reappearance wider significance beyond the rumor itself.