British intelligence reports personnel changes in command of Russian army grouping in Ukraine

11:58, 06.04.2023 1 min read

Personnel changes are taking place in the command of the Russian army grouping in Ukraine, according to a defense intelligence report published on Twitter by the British Ministry of Defense.

"As claimed on Russian social media, the Russian MoD [Ministry of Defense] has highly likely dismissed Colonel-General Rustam Muradov as a commander of the Eastern Group of Forces (EGF) in Ukraine," the intelligence said.

It is noted that the EGF under the command of Muradov has suffered "exceptionally heavy casualties" in recent months as its poorly conceived assaults repeatedly failed to capture the Donetsk Oblast town of Vuhledar."

"The operations attracted intense public criticism from across the spectrum of Russian commentators – including Muradov's own troops," the British intelligence said.

They remind that Muradov took command of the EGF after its disastrous attempt to assault Kyiv from the north-west during the initial full-scale invasion.

He is currently the most senior Russian military dismissal of 2023, but more layoffs are likely as Russia continues to fail to achieve its goals in Donbas.