The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, demanded that Colonel-General Alexander Lapin, who led the defense of the Russians, get in touch with him because of the breakthrough of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of the settlements of Terny, Torskoye and Yampolovka in the Donetsk region. Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel that tactical and personnel changes are needed "now, not tomorrow."
In the message, Kadyrov calls Yevgeny Prigozhin, one of the founders of PMC Wagner, a “brother” and a “born warrior,” and also advises listening to him and drawing conclusions. Prigozhin himself has previously criticized the Russian military leadership in a personal conversation with Putin, complaining about poor command and inept actions of military leaders, The Washington Post reported .
“As for Colonel General Lapin, for the past few days I have been trying to establish contact with him through my commanders of special forces. But my guys can't find it. Shouldn't the commander be in his place and in touch with his colleagues? And all because I want to talk to him about the recent breakthrough of the enemy in the area of \u200b\u200bthe defense line of the settlements of Terny, Torskoye and Yampolovka, which five armored personnel carriers and 50 neo-Nazis crossed without a fight, and where Lapin was responsible. As a result, in order to help stop the advance of the enemy in his area, it was decided to remove the city of Rubizhnoye from the defense and transfer one reinforced battalion and one company.
For a whole day, the forces deployed there could not find Lapin's fighters. We had to defend ourselves and then successfully move forward. At the same time, all these days, Internet resources were only talking about the great feats of the Central Military District under the leadership of Lapin, with whom no one could even get in touch. As a result, the demoralized fighters abandoned by him without communication, food and ammunition ended up in Rubizhne, Kremennaya, from where they are still being caught and returned to the front line, but already failed almost to the second line.
Kadyrov said that the story of "the surrender of the Red Liman defense line" is now repeating itself. According to him, the servicemen managed to avoid the tragedy in this area only due to the correct deployment of forces on the second echelon of the defense line. Now Lapin is behind the defense of Svatovo and Makeevka, the head of Chechnya stressed.
“I ask questions: no one cares how Lapin got a star for the capture of Lisichansk, in which he was not even there? No one is interested in how he managed to pass the Red Estuary and why there was no check? Nobody cares how he managed to open a gap for the enemy and why there was no check again? Does anyone care where he is now? Nobody cares who covers him so well?”
He urged to do something until Russia lost the guys and "recaptured villages."
In early October, Kadyrov was already blaming Lapin for the loss of Liman.
During the war, Alexander Lapin was repeatedly mentioned in the reports of the Ministry of Defense. A colonel-general is called a military man who presents "state awards to servicemen who have shown courage and heroism during a special military operation." For example, to his son Denis Lapin, a lieutenant colonel who commanded a regiment advancing on Chernigov and Sumy. From the negotiations published by Ukrainian intelligence, it follows that the regiment suffered serious losses, but its commander, Lapin Jr., was still presented for the award. Lapin himself went through all command positions, headed the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and since 2017 he has been commander of the Central Military District.