Again, Russia Replaces Its Military Commander In The Middle Of War: General 'Alumni'

Lieutenant General Rustam Muradov.(Source: Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/Mikhail Klimentyev)

JAKARTA - Dagestan leader Sergey Melikov revealed that Lieutenant General Rustam Muradov has been appointed commander of the Eastern Military District.

"One of us, Russian Hero Rustam Muradov, was appointed commander of the Eastern Military District, one of the most powerful military districts in the country in terms of its personnel," Melikov wrote on his Telegram channel on Friday, citing TASS October 7.

According to Dagestan's leader, appointing Muradov was the right decision.

"Rustam Usmanovich has always been a leader who motivates others, a strategist who makes the right decisions, a brave fighter who leads the attack. I believe that this quality, in addition to military education and the combat experience he gets in the most remote,civilian and Syrian areas, will help him handle combat tasks brilliantly," he said.

Citing Novaya Gazeta, BBC Russian Service reports Muradov has been awarded the prestigious 'Order of Course' twice. As of 2009, Muradov served in Maritime Affairs and led the 17th Motor Gun Brigade in the city of Shali inuni, he was then transferred to duty in the Zabaykalsky region.

From 2018, he became deputy commander of the Southern Military District. And, from November 2020 to September 2021, he led the Russian peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh.

However, there has been no direct confirmation from the Kremlin or the Russian Ministry of Defense regarding this change.

The rise of Rustam Muradov as Commander of the Eastern Military District, replaced Colonel General Alexander Chaiko, citing Reuters from RBC. Muradov, sanctioned by the European Union in February, previously served in the Donbas region, eastern Ukraine.

On Monday, the RBC reported that the Western Military District Commander, Colonel General Alexander Zhuravlyov, had been replaced, shortly after Russia's dramatic loss in northeastern Ukraine last month and recaptured Ukraine's strategic center of Donetsk.

In September, the deputy defense minister in charge of logistics, General Dmitry spreadakov, was replaced by Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, accused by the European Union of regulating the siege of Ukraine's Mariupol port at the start of the war that killed thousands of civilians.