Cadre changes continue in the leadership of the Russian Defense Ministry. Sources close to the Russian Defense Ministry reported that according to available information, Army General Surovikin has been appointed commander of a special military operation that Russia is conducting in the former Ukrainian territories.
Earlier, on September 24, 2022, the Defense Ministry announced that Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev was appointed to the post of Deputy Defense Minister in charge of material and technical support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Army General Dmitry Bulgakov was removed from his post.
Many Russian military observers attributed Bulgakov’s personality to the revealed failures in the logistical support of the group of Russian troops involved in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
This week it also became known about at least three more personnel changes in the command of the Russian army.
- 1.Roman Berdnikov became commander of the Western Military District. He had previously been commander of the Integrated combined arms force of the Eastern Military District, and later headed a grouping of Russian troops in Syria. In 2018, by decree of President Vladimir Putin, he was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. Roman Berdnikov succeeded Colonel General Alexander Zhuravlev, who has commanded forces of the Western Military District since 2018.
- 2. Rustam Muradov was appointed commander of the Eastern Military District. In 2017. He received the title of Hero of Russia. Since December 2018, he was deputy commander of the troops of the Southern Military District. He also commanded the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh. Previously the position of commander of the troops of the Eastern Military District was held by Alexander Chaiko.
- 3. Vice-Admiral Viktor Sokolov was appointed the new commander of the Black Sea Fleet. He graduated from the Frunze Higher Naval School, the Higher Special Officer Classes of the Navy, and the Kuznetsov Naval Academy. From 2020 he headed the Military Training and Research Center of the Naval Academy named after Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov. Sokolov succeeded Admiral Igor Osipov. Under Osipov’s fleet command, Russia lost the missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet.
Source: SOUTHFRONT