Vladimir Putin has appointed Colonel General Alexander Lapin as the chief of staff of Russia’s ground forces, despite sharp criticism from the pro-war camp in the Kremlin and some of the Russian president’s allies, Reuters reports.

TASS, the most famous Russian state news agency, announced this on Tuesday, citing a source familiar with the situation.

Lapina, who was previously the commander of Russia’s Central Military District, came under fire from some of Putin’s close allies in October for losing the town of Liman just a day after the Russian president announced the annexation of occupied Ukrainian territories.

His appointment follows other major changes in the leadership of Moscow’s armed forces after they suffered a series of humiliating defeats and were forced to retreat from territories they seized in the early stages of the war.

Changes in the leadership of the Russian army

On October 8, Putin appointed Air Force General Sergei Surovikin as commander of the invasion force, a decision made shortly after the dismissal of the heads of the Eastern and Western Military Districts.

In August, the RIA Novosti news agency announced that Vice Admiral Ihor Osipov, commander of the Black Sea Fleet, had been relieved of his duties following a series of actions by Ukrainian forces that included the sinking of the Moscow flagship and the destruction of 8 military aircraft during the attack. at the airfield in Crimea.

The information that Osipov was removed from his post appeared back in May, a month after the flooding of Moscow.

As for Lapin, after the loss of Liman, he was sharply criticized by the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, and the head of the “Wagner” PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

“Nepotism in the army will not lead to good,” Ramzan Kadyrov also stated, adding that the commander of Russian troops in the zone should be stripped of his medals and sent to the front lines with a rifle to wash away the shame in blood. .

Criticism of Lapin and the military command in Moscow

The head of Chechnya also said that two weeks ago he talked about the possibility of defeat in Liman with the chief of the General Staff of Russia Valery Gerasimov, but rejected this idea.

“Ramzan – you are the best!” Prigozhin replied to the Chechen leader’s statement.

“All these scoundrels should be sent barefoot to the front with machine guns,” he added regarding Kadyrov’s story about the response received from the chief of the Russian General Staff and other statements by the head of Chechnya.

When asked if these comments were an attack on the military command in Moscow, Prigozhin ironically replied:

“God forbid! These statements are not criticism, but only a manifestation of love and support” for Kadyrov. “I, and Ramzan Akhmatovich even more than I, are the most cultured people,” he added, using Kadyrov’s patronymic as a sign of respect.

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