Major General Oleksandr Linkov has been appointed acting commander of the Central Military District in place of Oleksandr Lapin, who, according to Russian media, is on leave for three weeks, although earlier media reported that Lapin had been removed from military command. operations in Ukraine.

Colonel-General Oleksandr Lapin was replaced in Central Military District Photo: Maksym Bohovidvid / Sputnik / Profimedia

Oleksandr Linkov is the head of the organizational and mobilization department of the Central Military District.

It is not clear what happened to Oleksandr Lapin

On October 29, RIA Novosti journalist Oleksandr Kharchenko reported that the commander of the troops of the Central Military District, Colonel General Lapin, was dismissed from his post.

Recently, Lapin was criticized by Kadyrov and Prigozhin, who blamed him for the loss of Lyman. In response, several bloggers/military correspondents came to his defense. As such, according to military analyst Rob Lee of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, his release was expected to lead to some animosity.

Kommersant.ru writes that Lapin allegedly went on a three-week vacation, although it was reported in the press that Oleksandr Lapin was removed from the post of commander of the military operation in Ukraine. This information has not been officially confirmed.

Recently, in early October, Lapin was criticized by the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, who called the general who lost Liman “mediocrity.”

According to Kadyrov, Lapin, who was in charge of this defense zone, did not provide the occupiers mobilized from Luhansk region with the necessary means and that he was “hiding” in Luhansk.

In the summer, President Vladimir Putin awarded Lapin the title of Hero of Russia. According to the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, the name was related to the capture of Lysytsk, although Kadyrov said that “he was not actually around.”