The restructuring of Russian military leadership continues. The now-promoted Lapin was heavily criticized for his defeats in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Shoigu announced a modernization of recruitment.
Russia has appointed Colonel-General Alexander Lapin as chief of staff of Russia’s ground forces, the state-run TASS news agency reported on Tuesday – despite fierce criticism of his performance by senior politicians.
Lapin, who was formerly commander of Russia’s Central Military District, was heavily criticized by allies of President Vladimir Putin last October after Russian forces were forced out of the town of Lyman in eastern Ukraine, a key logistical hub.
Promotion “a misunderstanding to say the least”
His promotion – widely reported in Russian media but neither confirmed nor denied by the Kremlin – drew mixed reactions from influential Russian war bloggers, who are often critical of Moscow’s faltering military efforts in Ukraine.
Igor Strelkov, a former leader of pro-Russian forces in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, questioned Lapin’s qualifications as a commander and blamed him for heavy Russian defeats last year near the city of Kharkiv. His promotion was “a misunderstanding, to say the least,” Strelkov wrote in Telegram on Tuesday.
Another prominent war blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky, said Strelkov wrongly blamed Lapin for the defeats in Kharkiv, but his new position is a “useless” role that duplicates the role of the general staff, reports Portal.
Colonel-General Alexander Lapin in an official photo of the Ministry of Defense of Russia. (c) Wikipediamultiple conversions
Lapin’s promotion follows other sweeping changes in Russian military leadership over the course of the 11-month war, during which Moscow’s forces seized large swaths of southern and eastern Ukraine but suffered a series of defeats and painful withdrawals. On October 8, Russia appointed Air Force General Sergei Surovikin as supreme commander of its forces in Ukraine, following the resignation of the commanders of the Eastern and Western Military Districts.
In August, the state-run RIA news agency reported that the commander of the Black Sea Fleet had been sacked after a series of humiliations, including the sinking of his flagship and the loss of eight warplanes in an attack on a Russian base in Crimea.
After Russia lost Lyman in October, Lapin was publicly criticized by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private military group. Both sent units to Ukraine to support the regular army. Kadyrov said that Lapin should be stripped of his medals and sent to the front with a rifle to wash away his shame in blood. Prigozhin supported Kadyrov’s statements, saying: “All these bastards must be sent to the front barefoot and with automatic rifles.”
Recruitment is modernized
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced plans to modernize the military commissariats responsible for recruiting soldiers. For example, databases must be updated and cooperation between local and regional authorities improved, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday, according to the Interfax news agency. Rumors have been circulating among the Russian population for weeks that the political leadership is preparing a second wave of mobilization.
The Ukrainian secret service also expects a new mobilization. The Kremlin, on the other hand, denies this. In order to send more troops to the front in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin called up some 300,000 reservists last fall. The convening offices were largely responsible for the implementation of this order. In many places, however, chaotic conditions during recruitment were described at the time.
Nuclear triad to be further developed
Defense Minister Shoigu also announced improvements to counter drones and jets. In addition, the so-called nuclear triad must be further developed, he said. The term describes three types of nuclear weapons: land-based ICBMs, air-delivery systems, and submarine-based ICBMs. The “nuclear shield” is “the most important guarantor of our state’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Shoigu explained.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Kyiv and “some Western leaders” of reacting cynically to the ceasefire proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin to mark Orthodox Christmas celebrations last weekend. Putin ordered the 36-hour ceasefire at short notice and unilaterally. According to Russian information, it was valid on the last Friday and Saturday, that is, on the days when the Orthodox Christmas feast fell.
However, the move was rejected by the Ukrainian government, among others, because they saw it as an excuse for Moscow to strengthen Russian positions. When the ceasefire was formally in effect, Russian troops fired on dozens of positions and settlements along the front, according to Ukrainian sources.
(Portal)