Russian general in charge of Azovstal assault is promoted

Lieutenant-General Andrey Mrodvichev, who gave the order to assault the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, has been appointed as the new commander of the Central Military District of Russia.

Source: Russian news outlet Kommersant, referring to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities

Details: Mordvichev was the head of the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk garrison in 2017. In 2018, he was appointed first deputy commander and chief of staff of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District of Russia. In 2021, he served as the first deputy commander of the 8th Combined Arms Army of the Russian Air Defence.

Colonel General Alexander Lapin has been the commander of the Russian Central Military District since 2017

In January 2023, Russian media reported that he had been appointed Chief of the General Staff of the ground forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

In March 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that Mordvichev had been killed in Ukraine, but Russia has said that this is not the case.

At the end of September 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) reported that it had identified the general of the Russian Federation who gave the order to capture Mariupol and assault Azovstal. It turned out to be Mordvichev.

He was served a notice of suspicion under three articles of the Criminal Code: 

• Art.110.3 (trespass against the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, if they caused the killing of people or any other grave consequences);
• Art.437.2 (conducting an aggressive war or aggressive military operations);
• Art.28.2 (criminal offence committed by a group of persons, or a group of persons upon prior conspiracy).

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