Putin dismisses land forces commander in fresh military leadership reshuffle

General Oleg Salyukov, chief of Russia’s Ground Forces, has been dismissed from his position and named deputy secretary of the country’s Security Council, a top Kremlin consultative body, according to a decree signed by Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

Salyukov, who turns 70 next week, the maximum age for a general under Russian law, had served as Russia’s most senior land forces commander since 2015. He will now work under former Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu, who was removed from his post and reassigned to the Security Council in what was read as a sideways move last May.

Salyukov’s successor is Colonel General Andrey Mordvichev, a senior commander who has figured prominently in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As deputy commander of the Southern Military District, Mordvichev oversaw the Russian occupation of Mariupol in 2022. Since 2023, he has led Russia’s Central military group, which spearheaded the capture of Avdiivka and several other Ukrainian cities during last year’s major Donetsk offensive.

Born in Saratov region, western Russia, Salyukov graduated from the Malinovsky Military Armored Forces Academy in the mid-1980s. Thereafter, he progressed through the Soviet, and later the Russian Army’s leadership hierarchy, holding various command positions. In 2019, Salyukov was awarded the rank of Army General, Russia’s second-highest military rank.

In recent years, Salyukov has presided over Russia’s annual Victory Day celebrations in Moscow’s Red Square, including the parade that marked the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany last Friday. According to BBC News Russian, companies linked to Salyukov’s close family were previously awarded large state contracts to organise such patriotic events.

Salyukov has also been the subject of a number of other investigations, including by Bellingcat, whose researchers named him among those potentially responsible for the transfer of a Buk missile launcher to Russia-backed groups in Donbas, prior to the downing of Flight MH17 that killed 298 people in 2014.

Since February 2022, Salyukov has been sanctioned by the European Union, the United Kingdom, and several other countries for his role in the war.