A prominent Russian military blogger has called on Vladimir Putin to introduce “massive systemic repression” of the army to rid it of corrupt and criminal groups.

His call comes in the wake of growing anger over the deaths of specialist drone operators fighting UkraineDonetsk region, which threatens to tear Putin’s army apart.

Junior Sergeant Dmitry Lysakovsky (alias Goodwin) and Lieutenant Colonel Sergey Gritsai (alias Ernest) were killed on September 13 after being forced to take part in a frontal assault on Ukrainian positions.

The two soldiers were drone operators serving in the 87th Separate Rifle Regiment (SRR), which is made up of pro-Russian militias led by local Donetsk elites.

However, their drone unit was disbanded after they criticized their commanders and alleged that drug trafficking was taking place on the front line.

As punishment, their vengeful commander reportedly assigned them to combat units and sent them into the meat grinder.

Their deaths sparked an outcry among prominent military bloggers, many of whom have close ties to them Russias army and security agencies.

RussiaDefense Minister Andrei Belousov launched a hasty investigation into the soldiers’ deaths in an attempt to diffuse anger.

The investigation cleared the commanders of the 87th of abusing their authority and dismissed allegations of drug trafficking.

However, the conclusions have failed to appease the military bloggers, one of whom accused local Donetsk elites of deliberately acting against Kremlin interests to preserve their power base.

In a furious post, the blogger “Two Majors” wrote: “Commanders can commit crimes by killing their subordinates for some criminal purpose. But in the Goodwin case, we are dealing with more than just this fact.

“Once again in Russian history we have from the local South Russian elite a CHALLENGE and HOOT against the federal center’s ability to achieve its goal.

“This power/criminal group in Donetsk is fighting with all its might for its existence, using contacts in Moscow, using media and bloggers to whitewash its own and denigrate others.

“Thereby committing the worst crimes in the Russian political coordinate system.

“I repeat that the Russian army needs MASSIVE SYSTEMIC REPRESSION for its recovery.”