On Friday, Russia appointed Lieutenant General Andrei Mordvichev as commander of the Central Military District.
In his new position, Mordvichev will replace Colonel General Alexander Lapin.
Lapin was appointed chief of staff of the country’s ground forces last month, despite heavy criticism over his approach in Ukraine.
Mordvichev’s appointment came after a call by the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister to the residents of Bakhmut, to immediately evacuate the city, where fierce battles are taking place.
The commander of the Russian paramilitary “Wagner” group expected to take control of Bakhmut, the epicenter of the ongoing battles in eastern Ukraine, in March or April, attributing the slow progress of the Russian forces to the “terrible military bureaucracy”.
“In order to control Bakhmut, all supply routes must be cut off,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said, in videos posted on Wednesday night on Telegram, denouncing the Russian “terrible military bureaucracy” for failing to take control of the city in the Donetsk region before the end of 2022.
The city of Bakhmut, which had a population of 70,000 before the war, was largely destroyed during the continuous fighting for more than six months, leaving heavy human losses on both sides.