• Russia's top general, Vasily Gerasimov, has appeared in a video. 
  • It's his first appearance since the failed Wagner mutiny. 
  • It's an apparent show that Vladimir Putin isn't giving in to demands he be replaced. 

Russia's top general, Vasily Gerasimov, has appeared in a video in an apparent bid by the Kremlin to quash rumors that President Vladimir Putin caved into demands from mutineers and replaced him. 

In a video released by the Kremlin Monday, Gerasimov, the supreme commander of Russia's armed forces, issues orders to subordinates on a large video screen on how to deal with Ukrainian missile attacks, Reuters said. 

It's the first film of Gerasimov released by the Kremlin since the failed June 24 uprising by the Wagner mercenary group, whose leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had demanded the firing of Russian military leaders he claimed had botched the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Prigozhin agreed to call off the mutiny when he brokered a deal with the Kremlin and went into exile in Belarus. 

Over the weekend, rumors circulated on nationalist blogger channels on Telegram that Putin had acted on Prigozhin's demands and Gerasimov was being replaced, The Moscow Times reported. 

But the video released Monday appears to be a public show of support by the Kremlin for Gerasimov. It comes after a video was released days after the rebellion showing Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, another target of the mutineers, visiting commanders in Ukraine in a show of support from the Kremlin. 

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has exposed deep rifts between key figures close to Putin.  

Gerasimov replaced General Sergey Surovikin as Russia's top commander in Ukraine in January, and since the mutiny rumors have circulated that Surovikin has been arrested for having knowledge of Prigozhin's plot. 

Before the mutiny, Prigozhin had accused military chiefs of failing to support his fighters, and of launching the invasion on false pretexts. Yet Putin tolerated the outbursts, with analysts claiming that he was playing rival factions off against each other, and was too dependent on Prigozhin, and wary of his popularity, to punish him. 

Russia's military has been beset by serious setbacks since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with faulty intelligence, poor planning, substandard weapons, and high casualties meaning only faltering progress has been made.