Moscow has appointed Colonel-General Alexander Lapin as chief of staff of Russia’s ground forces, despite having been ousted as commander of the Russian Armed Forces’ Central Military District in October, as Russian troops pursue a massive offensive in Donetsk, reports said Tuesday.
The appointment was met with criticism from Russia hawks as Russian President Vladimir Putin looks to turn the tide in the near-year long war in Ukraine, where it has made little advances since it began losing territory in September.
Lapin first received heavy backlash from top players in Putin’s war, including Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, after he lost the strategically important city of Lyman in October, when Ukrainian troops pushed east into Donetsk after taking Kharkiv in September.
Ukrainian soldiers work with “pion” artillery in the northern direction of the Donbass frontline as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Donetsk, Ukraine on Jan. 7, 2023.
(Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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Following the loss of the logistics hub, Kadyrov reportedly said, “If I had my way, I would demote Lapin to a private, deprive him of his awards and, with a machine gun in his hands, send him to the front line to wash away his shame with blood.”
Former leader of pro-Russian forces in the Donetsk region, Igor Strelkov, expressed his frustration Tuesday and described Lapin’s promotion as “to put it mildly, a misunderstanding” after he too blamed Lapin for the loss of Lyman in October.
The Kremlin has not publicly confirmed Lapin’s appointment, but the move comes as Russian forces are desperately trying to gain ground in eastern Donetsk.
Russia has focused its efforts in taking Bakhmut and Soledar while pushing up toward Lyman – less than 40 miles north of where some of the war’s most brutal ground offensive is taking place.
Ukrainian soldiers work with “pion” artillery in the northern direction of the Donbass frontline as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Donetsk, Ukraine on Jan. 7, 2023.
(Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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Ukrainian defense forces said on Tuesday that Soledar – which has become Moscow’s most recent target after its forces stalled around Bakhmut following months of heavy warfare – levied 86 rounds of artillery at the city over a 24-hour period.
“The situation is now very challenging there, the most challenging on the eastern front,” spokesperson for the Eastern Grouping of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Serhii Cherevatyi said according to Ukinform.
The U.K. defense ministry assessed Tuesday that over the past four days, Russia’s Wagner Group have “made tactical advances into the small Donbas town of Soledar and are likely in control of most of the settlement.”
Ukrainian soldiers work with “pion” artillery in the northern direction of the Donbass frontline as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Donetsk, Ukraine on Jan. 7, 2023.
(Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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The ministry assessed the capture of the city is likely “Russia’s main immediate operational objective” and “an effort to envelop Bakhmut from the north, and to disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication.”
Ukraine has not attributed the same success to Russian forces just six miles north of Bakhmut.
