Top Russian General Dismissed for Heavy Ukraine Losses Appointed to Senior Army Post – Regional Official

A senior Russian commander who was previously dismissed over his unsuccessful assault attempts in eastern Ukraine has been appointed to a top post, a regional official said Thursday.
Colonel General Rustam Muradov was formally relieved of his command of the Eastern Military District after Russian troops suffered high casualty rates and equipment losses during attacks on the town of Vuhledar in early 2023. Russia eventually captured Vuhledar last month.
According to Magomed Kurbanov, the head of the republic of Dagestan’s Tabasaransky district, President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree naming Muradov as first deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian ground forces. Muradov is from the Tabasaransky district.
“We’re confident that under your wise leadership, the country’s ground forces will continue to maintain the highest standards of professionalism,” Kurbanov wrote in a congratulatory Telegram post.
The presidential decree on Muradov’s latest appointment has not been published on the website of Russia’s legal acts as of Friday morning, and Russia’s defense ministry has not commented on Muradov’s appointment. 
As the right-hand man of commander-in-chief Oleg Salyukov, Muradov would oversee an army of around half a million troops and branches of service including tanks, artillery, air defense and motorized rifles.
Russia’s influential pro-war military bloggers voiced dissatisfaction with the news of Muradov’s new post.
Muradov is under EU, U.K. and other Western sanctions over Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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