Prigozhin's Protégé 'Tambov' Appointed To Command Russia's Western Military District

The GUR has reported the sudden dismissal of General Sergey Kuzovlev from his post.

The Ukrainian intelligence service has reported another changeover in the Russian army's command. General Nikiforov, who had been committing crimes in Luhansk Region since 2014, has taken one of the important positions.

The information was made public by the press service of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defence Ministry.

The Russian Federation has dismissed the commander of the Western Military District, General Sergey Kuzovlev, the Main Intelligence Directorate has reported.

Evgeny Nikiforov, who had previously been the chief of staff and first deputy commander of the Eastern Military District in Russia, replaced Kuzovlev.

The intelligence reported that Lieutenant-General Nikiforov is currently at the control point of the "West" group - in the settlement of Boguchar in Russia's Voronezh Region, 200 km from the closest AFU positions.

The official reason for Kuzovlev's dismissal is failures in preparations for the Liman offensive in Kharkiv Region.

The Main Intelligence Directorate explains that the reason for the leadership change is a power struggle around Kremlin chief Putin. Kuzovlev was "the man" of Shoigu, Russia's defence minister. Meanwhile, Nikiforov is a protege of Prigozhin, Putin's "cook" and owner of the Wagner PMC.

A brief search online clarifies who Evgeny Nikiforov is.

Nikiforov, a 52-year-old native of Chita, is the head of the 58th Combined Arms Army in the Russian Armed Forces.

In 2014, it was Nikiforov who gave the order to the Wagner PMC mercenaries: he ordered to shoot down the Ukrainian Il-76 transport aircraft over Luhansk. The Wagner unit used the Igla man-portable air defence system, killing 49 Ukrainians along the way.

In 2015, Nikiforov became curator of the occupied part of Luhansk Region. His predecessor in this "position", General Kuzovlev, gave him the nickname of "Tambov". As we can see, seven years later, Nikiforov moved Kuzovlev out of office again.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine put Nikiforov on the list of persons threatening Ukraine's national security in 2016.

The Peacemaker portal also contains data on the major-general. Also, the portal's page states that the Russian was involved in the Russian Federation's criminal war against Georgia in 2008.