“Colonel-General Yevgeny Nikiforov became the new commander of the Russian united group “North”, replacing Alexander Lapin, who was previously criticized for failures on the front”, – WRITE: www.radiosvoboda.org
Defense Minister Andriy Belousov held a working meeting with the participation of Nikiforov, where he heard reports on the current situation, the nature of the Armed Forces in the area of responsibility of the group, as well as set a number of tasks.
Earlier, the commander of the group was Colonel-General Alexander Lapin. His resignation was reported Z-channels on August 8. Lapin has been headed by troops of the Central Military District since 2017. In 2022, after the retreat of the Russian troops from Liman, he was criticized by Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov and the founder of the Wagner PEC Yevgeny Prigogin. Kadyrov called him a “illustration”, which, before the loss, moved the headquarters to Starobilsk and himself “stayed in Lugansk.”
The North Group unites Kursk and Kharkiv directions, and Lapin has headed it since March 2024.
Yevgeny Nikiforov commanded the Western Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation since December 2022 before its disbanding in 2024. The Security Service of Ukraine believes that he ordered to knock down the Ukrainian military-transport aircraft IL-76MD near Lugansk in June 2014, resulting in killed 49 military personnel of the Armed Forces, as well as to strike a rocket at the Drama Theater in Chernihiv in August 2023, where seven people were killed.