Kommersant reports General Lapin may chair State Duma’s defense committee. In 2024, he failed to defend Russia’s Kursk region against Ukrainian incursion.

Colonel General Alexander Lapin, who commanded the Central and Leningrad military districts, is under consideration to serve as chairman of the defense committee in the incoming State Duma, the Russian business daily Kommersant reports, citing sources in the lower house of parliament and in United Russia, the country’s ruling party.

Lapin will run for the State Duma in September on United Russia’s list from Tatarstan, according to Kommersant’s sources. The decision to appoint him as committee chair is not yet final.

The committee is currently led by Andrei Kartapolov, who was elected to the State Duma in 2021 from Moscow. Kommersant’s sources say he is unlikely to run for a seat in the new parliament. His name does not appear on the United Russia primaries website, even though the application deadline expired on May 14.

Alexander Lapin commanded the Central group of forces, which, after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, advanced to the outskirts of Kyiv. After Russian forces withdrew from the Ukrainian capital, the group was redeployed to the east of the country. Lapin then commanded the operation to capture Lyman, which Ukrainian forces later liberated. After the Russian retreat from Lyman, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov called Lapin “a talentless commander being covered for by superiors in the General Staff.” Lapin was soon dismissed.

In January 2023, Lapin became chief of staff of the ground forces, and in March 2024, took command of the reconstituted Leningrad Military District. During the same period, the North group of forces was formed, responsible for the Kharkiv and Kursk directions. In August 2024, Ukrainian forces crossed into Russia’s Kursk region. The Wall Street Journal identified Lapin as responsible for the gaps in Russian defenses. In August 2025, the Defense Ministry dismissed Lapin.