Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

Social media users began asking questions regarding the whereregardings of Mr. Gerasimov, who is in charge of Russia’s war operations in Ukraine, on January 4 following Kiev said it had attacked a military command post. of Russia near Sevastopol and a military unit near the city of Yevpatoria.

Unverified rumors regarding Mr. Gerasimov being killed in Crimea began spreading following user , (Valery) Gerasimov, who was at the command post near Sevastopol at the time of the attack, was killed in the attack on Crimea”. However, this notice was later removed.

Although there is no concrete evidence that Gerasimov was killed in the Crimea attack, some have questioned the Kremlin’s silence on the issue, two weeks following the incident.

State news agency RIA Novosti reported that Gerasimov was last seen in public on December 29 when he was photographed presenting state awards to outstanding soldiers during the seizure of Marinka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. .

Since then, he has not been quoted or mentioned by state media, nor has he appeared in public.

In an editorial titled “Where is General Gerasimov and why does it matter?” published last Sunday in the Kyiv Post, retired US Army Colonel Jonathan Sweet and former economist Mark Toth wrote that although it is suspected that Gerasimov is dead, “the persistent absence His public statements and Moscow’s ‘radio silence’ to date on his condition” intrigue many.

It was “strange” that the Kremlin did not respond to rumors that he was killed in Crimea, the authors write, since “the Kremlin denied the death of commander Admiral Viktor Sokolov immediately following the launch of the Storm missile Shadow attacks the Black Sea Fleet Headquarters”on September 22, 2023”.

Last year, when Gerasimov was not seen for weeks following the failed mutiny led by the late Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin on June 24, 2023, similar rumors swirled regarding his whereregardings. general, with some speculation as to whether he would be dismissed.

The Kremlin appeared to quickly quash those rumors, releasing a video showing him on duty in Ukraine just a week following the rumors began.

Jaanika Merilo, an Estonian-Ukrainian tech innovator and reformer, wrote on X earlier this month that she didn’t think Gerasimov was dead, “despite rumors or wishful thinking.”

“Gerasimov had a ‘habit’ of getting lost from time to time. In the summer, it was rumored that he had been killed or at least injured. There is no evidence of that. After Prigozhin’s coup, he disappears for weeks then reappears. There is no particular reason to think why he doesn’t reappear now. Remember, this is information warfare and is generally just fog war blindness”, commented Jaanika Merilo.

On the followingnoon of January 23, Mr. Khuat Viet Hung, Vice Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, came to inspect the scene of a passenger car falling into a ravine at La Son – Tuy Loan Expressway.

Through inspection, Mr. Khuat Viet Hung commented that the infrastructure, paint lines, and signs at the road where the accident occurred were complete.

At the scene, there were no signs of the passenger car braking before the accident.

Notably, Mr. Khuat Viet Hung said, according to reports from the Vietnam Road Department and the Department of Transport of Dak Lak province, the passenger car in accident did not send trip monitoring data for the past 2 days (from January 20 to have an accident).

“Regarding this issue, we will ask the authorities to clarify and especially determine the responsibilities of organizations and individuals, where the person directly controlling the vehicle is the driver. There is also the transport business unit. load.

Because according to regulations, business units that transport passengers by car along fixed routes must have a traffic safety monitoring department and monitor journey monitoring data throughout the vehicle’s operation. in traffic. When there are unusual signs, we must warn and remind, and at the same time take action once morest the person directly controlling it,” Mr. Hung said.

In addition, Mr. Hung added, there will be opinions for the Vietnam Road Administration and reports to the agencies of the Ministry of Transport to assess the overall safety conditions of the La Son – Tuy Loan expressway and there will be recommendations. Traffic organization solutions to suit.

Previously, as Dan Viet reported, around 0:30 on January 23, at Km36+400 La Son – Hoa Lien highway (in Hoa Bac commune, Hoa Vang district, Da Nang city), a 45-seat passenger car, Inspection Committee: 47B-010.67 running the Dak Lak – Hai Duong route, driver Phuong Thanh Tung (born 1988 residing in Eaka district, Dak Lak province) was driving, the vehicle carrying 22 people (19 passengers, 3 bus staff) crashed down. Abyss.

The accident killed 2 people and injured 20 people who were taken to the emergency room.

According to the police, the initial cause of the accident was due to rain and fog, which limited visibility, and the driver was drowsy, causing the accident.