President Putin Appoints Alexander Lapin As Army Chief Of Staff, Was Removed From The Position Of War Commander In Ukraine

Kolonel Jenderal Alexsander Lapin bersama Presiden Vladimir Putin. (Wikimedia Commons/Yelakut mengguh

JAKARTA - Colonel General Alexander Lapin has been appointed Chief of the Main Staff of the Russian Army, a source close to the Russian Ministry of Defense told TASS on Tuesday.

The senior general who was born on January 1, 1964, has previously served as commander of Russia's central military district since 2017. Last year, he was also responsible for the Operations Command Center in special military operations in Ukraine until October 2022.

"General Lapin has indeed been appointed as the Chief of the Main Staff of the Russian Army," said a TASS source, as quoted January 10. Another source said the appointment was made at the end of 2022.

Lapin is one of Russia's senior generals full of experience. In 2018-2019, Lapin was the commander of a Russian troop group in Syria. In 2022, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

The promotion of Lapin, reported by Russian media, but not confirmed or denied by the Kremlin, sparked mixed reactions from influential Russian war bloggers and often criticized.

Igor Strelkov, a former leader of pro-Russian forces in Ukraine's Donetsk region, questioned Lapin's credibility as a commander and blamed him for Russia's crushing defeat last year near Kharkiv City. His promotion is "smoothly, a misunderstanding", Strelkov wrote on Telegram on Tuesday, citing Reuters.

Lapin's promotion followed another major change to Russia's military leadership during the 11-month war, in which Moscow forces had seized large parts of Ukraine's south and east, but suffered a series of painful defeats and recoil.

On October 8, Russia appointed Air Force General Sergei Surovikin as its overall commander in Ukraine, shortly after reports of the dismissal of commanders of the Eastern and Western military districts.

In August, state-owned news agency RIA reported that the commander of the Black Sea Fleet had been fired after a series of defeats, including the sinking of its flagship ship and the disappearance of eight warplanes in an attack on a Russian base in Crimea.

After Russia lost Lyman in October, Lapin drew harsh public criticism from leadermen Ramzan Kadyrov and Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Wagner's private military group, both of whom sent units to Ukraine to support the efforts of the regular Russian army.

Kadyrov said Lapin had to be stripped of his medal, sent to the front line with a gun to remove his shame with blood.

Meanwhile, Prigozhin supported Kadyrov's comments, saying: "All these dogs must be sent without footwear forward with automatic weapons."