Russia-Ukraine War: Eastern Military District Commander replaced by Moscow amidst setbacks in Ukraine

As Ukraine continues to liberate settlements in its eastern region from occupying Russian troops, Moscow has reportedly replaced another top commander in its armed forces.

The head of Russia's North Caucasus region of Daghestan, Sergei Melikov, wrote on Telegram on October 7 that North Caucasus native Lieutenant General Rustam Muradov had been appointed to lead the Eastern Military District.

The district is based in Russia's Far East, but much of its personnel is currently taking part in Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Muradov, who among other Russian officials has been slapped with Western sanctions, led troops in Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, parts of which have been under Moscow-backed separatists' control since 2014.

He also commanded Russian peacekeepers in Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

RBK news agency reported on October 7, citing sources close to the Russian military, that Muradov replaced Colonel General Aleksandr Chaiko, without giving any details.

There has been no official confirmation of the report.

On October 3, RBK reported that the commander of the Western Military District, Colonel General Aleksandr Zhuravlyov, had been replaced shortly after dramatic Russian losses in northeastern Ukraine in September and Ukraine's recapture of the strategic city of Lyman in the Donetsk region.

In September, General Dmitry Bulgakov, deputy defense minister in charge of logistics, was replaced by Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, who is accused by the European Union of orchestrating a siege of the Ukrainian port of Mariupol early in the war that killed thousands of civilians.

In August, Russian state media said the commander of the Black Sea fleet had been fired after Ukraine carried out several successful attacks, including the sinking of Russia's missile cruiser Moskva and the loss of eight warplanes in an attack on a Russian base in Ukraine's Crimea that was seized by Moscow in 2014. (KB/RFE-RL)