Andrey Mordvichev replaces Alexander Lapin as commander of Russia’s Central Military District

Lieutenant General Andrey Mordvichev has replaced Colonel General Alexander Lapin as the commander of Russia’s Central Military District, according to the government’s Uniform State Register of Legal Entities.

In January, Lapin was appointed the chief of staff of Russia’s ground forces. Lapin previously served as the commander of the army group “Center,” which retreated from Ukraine’s Kyiv region after reaching the city’s outskirts in early 2022. After the retreat, Chechnya Governor Ramzan Kadyrov publicly criticized Lapin’s leadership, calling him an “incompetent” commander who was “covered from above by the leadership of the General Staff.”

Andrey Mordvichev previously commanded the 8th combined army of Russia’s southern military district. In March, in response to false media reports that Mordvichev had been killed, Russian state media aired a video that showed Kadyrov calling Mordvichev “the very best commander.”