Putin fires top general Lapin after criticism of withdrawal These are the richest heads of state and government

According to reports in the Moscow Times, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has again removed a general from a key management position. This time Colonel General Alexander Lapin is said to have been hit, the newspaper reports, citing Russian military circles. He is formally head of the Central Military District, the largest of Russia’s five military districts. His units played an important role in the invasion of Ukraine and had taken Luhansk. He was awarded the Order of Hero of the Russian Federation.

In September, according to Ukrainian intelligence reports, Lapin was also given responsibility for the western district, following military failures there.

Recently, however, he has been criticized, especially from Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov. He had criticized the military failures and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Lyman, who were under Lapin’s command. Kadyrov had demanded that Lapin be reduced to a normal soldier. The head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, also agreed with the Chechens at the time, demanding that Lapin be sent to the front “with a machine gun and barefoot”.

Lapin, 58, has been the commander of the Central Military District since 2017. He previously headed the Russian group’s headquarters in Syria. According to the Moscow Times, an acquaintance of the general described him as an “unpretentious and executive” person who “not only follows orders, but enjoys them”. Lapin may have been a subordinate of Sergei Surovikin for some time, who now leads the Russian army in the war in Ukraine.

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((t-online,wan ))