Gennady Troshev, one of Russia's highest profile generals who supervises troops in Chechnya, went public in defiantly rejecting what he described as an "offer" by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, one of President Vladimir Putin's closest allies.

"The defense minister has suggested that I take up command of the Siberian military district. It is up to him to decide, but I have turned down this offer," General Gennady Troshev, currently head of the North Caucasus military district, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

"I do not understand the reasons for this reassignment," Troshev added.

"If I leave now, I will betray the region's military and the Chechen people who believed that (the military operation in Chechnya) really is an antiterrorist operation," he went on.

A defense ministry spokesman condemned Troshev's comments, describing them as "inappropriate."

"Senior officers should not discuss before the whole country questions pertaining to the military high command's personnel policy," Nikolay Deryabin told Interfax.

Top Kremlin aide on Chechnya Sergei Yastrzhembsky called Troshev's comments "unacceptable from the point of view of discipline" and said his reassignment had in fact been an order issued by the defense ministry.

"My understanding is that generals in the field should not discuss orders from the defense ministry," Yastrzhembsky said in an interview with the Moscow Echo radio station.

Troshev's public rebuff to his civilian superior is an affront that cannot go unpunished and is also indicative of a much deeper crisis among the military, Moscow-based defense analyst Pavel Felgenhauer told AFP.

"This is an act of rebellion," Felgenhauer said. "It is very serious and will have to be dealt with. Putin cannot accept this."

While he did not think that punishing Troshev would create unrest among Russian troops in Chechnya, Felgenhauer said the military's agenda there had long ceased to match that of Moscow.

"The way Troshev sees it, his reassignment to Siberia would pave the way to ending the war in Chechnya, which he sees as an antiterrorist operation, and he opposes such a move. But beyond that, the Russian military in Chechnya have long stopped obeying orders from Moscow," he said.

Troshev, a native of the Chechen capital Grozny, has become one of Russia's highest profile generals since the beginning of the second stage of the Chechen war on October 1, 1999.

He commanded operations on Chechnya's eastern front against separatist fighters at the onset of the fighting and was then appointed to head the North Caucasus military district.

But Troshev's defiance was also part of a much deeper malaise, Felgenhauer said.

"All this is happening against a backdrop of deep crisis inside the defense ministry, where tensions are running high and nobody is doing anything," he said.

Mikhail Khodaryonok, a defense analyst and former army officer, agreed that Troshev's comments "signal a loss of control over armed forces" by the defense ministry.

He suggested that Ivanov himself, a former intelligence service general but with no commanding experience in the armed forces, was part of the problem.

"Before, defense ministers had combat experience. They enjoyed great prestige and it would have been unthinkable not to listen to them," Khodaryonok said.

"But now, the military elite does not believe anymore that the minister and his top aides possess more military experience and competence than them, or that they have more moral prestige," he added.

Ivanov last month shelved a project to turn Russia's army into a fully professional force by 2010, owing to strong resistance from the military, thus going back on a pledge made by Putin.

SPACE.WIRE