A Russian officer associated with the Wagner Group has been appointed Commander of Russia's Western Military District. We are talking about Lieutenant General Yevgeny Nikiforov.
The ISW report notes that the new commander of the Western Military District of Russia also controls troops in Ukraine from headquarters in the Voronezh region.
What is known about Nikiforov
The report says that Nikiforov replaced Colonel General Sergei Kuzovlev as commander of the Western Military District (November-December 2022).
ISW analysts also note that Nikiforov is a member of the alliance formed by the commander of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine, Army General Sergei Surovikin and the owner of the Wagner private military company Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Ukrainian intelligence has previously reported that Prigozhin has formed an alliance with Surovikin and that Prigozhin and Surovikin are rivals to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the report says.
Military experts say Nikiforov has previous experience commanding elements of the Wagner group “in Donbas from 2014 to 2015. In particular, he was involved in the destruction of the Ukrainian Il-76 transport aircraft.
A Bellingcat investigation revealed that Wagner founder Dmitry Utkin reported to Nikiforov, among other members of Russian military intelligence, when Nikiforov was chief of staff of Russia's 58th Combined Arms Army in 2015. The SBU investigation established that on June 14, 2014, Nikiforov ordered Utkin and his Wagner group to destroy the Ukrainian Il-76 transport aircraft. /h2>
- Colonel-General Sergei Kuzovlev was removed from the post of commander of the Western Military District. He managed to stay in this post for only about a month. The Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces was headed by Lieutenant General Yevgeny Nikiforov.
- Nikiforov is currently at the command post of the Zapad group of forces in Boguchar, Voronezh Region. The formal reason for Kuzovlev's dismissal was the failure of the preparations for the offensive in the Liman direction.
- According to the Main Intelligence Directorate, General Nikiforov became the fourth commander of the Western Military District of Russia since the start of a full-scale invasion.
