The British Ministry of Defence on Sunday said Russia removed the commander of one of its five military districts earlier in the week.
Major General Alexander Linkov was selected as the next commander of the country's Central Military District, replacing Colonel General Alexander Lapin, who was "purportedly removed from office at the end of October 2022," according to British intelligence. "This is in part likely an attempt to insulate and deflect blame from Russian senior leadership at home," the ministry claimed.
Lapin recently came under criticism for not defending the northern part of the Donetsk region, with head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov claiming Chechen fighters sent to aid Lapin's troops "couldn't find them" on the battlefield "for an entire day."
