Thread by @RALee85

RIA Novosti's Alexander Kharchenko says that Central Military District Commander Colonel General Lapin was relieved. He praises the performance of Central District units, which suggests that he disagrees with the decision (other mil bloggers will as well).
t.me/vysokygovorit/…

Lapin has come under fire recently from Kadyrov and Prigozhin who blamed him for the loss of Lyman and said he was far from the front lines. In response, several military bloggers/correspondents have come to his defense. His relief will likely lead to some animosity. 2/

The Grey Zone channel suggests that his possible relief was due poorly employing mobilized units in his sector. Most of the anecdotes of poorly led mobilized units getting thrown into combat too soon were from his sector of the front. 3/
t.me/grey_zone/15561

Thread from yesterday regarding the most recent criticism leveled at Lapin by Kadyrov and Prigozhin and support from a variety of telegram channels. 4/

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1585955176413806593

Sergei Surovikin was recently made the overall commander of Russian forces in Ukraine (both Kadyrov and Prigozhin have praised his appointment). Before this, he and Lapin were the two senior group commanders over the summer, and Surovikin was in support of Lapin in June-July. 5/

As of this month, Lapin has been under Surovikin's command. He was previously chief of staff to Surovikin while he served as the Eastern Military District CO and commander of Russian forces in Syria. With Lapin gone, Surovikin is the clear commander without competition. 6/

Russia's RBC confirms that Lapin was relieved. 7/
rbc.ru/politics/29/10…

Another Russian outlet claims that Lapin hasn't been relieved but flew back to Yekaterinburg yesterday. Another explanation is that Lapin is still district commander but was removed from his troop command position in Ukraine. 8/
ura.news/news/1052599093

Another Russian source claims that he was replaced (possibly temporarily) by Lieutenant General Andrey Mordvichev, the previous commander of the 8th Combined Arms Army. 9/
vologda-poisk.ru/news/na-zlobu-…