by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] Vladimir Putin signed a decree appointing Colonel General Andrei Mordvichev as Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Russia. In this post, he replaced Oleg Salyukov, who was transferred to the post of Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of Russia. Before this, Mordvichev headed the Central Military District and the "Center" group of troops in the SVO zone. Colonel General Valery Solodchuk was transferred to the post of commander.
The reshuffle in the Russian army command has sparked discussions in the media and social networks. The new commander is known in both Russian and foreign sources as one of the most successful military leaders in the Russian army, who planned and implemented a number of offensive operations. Thanks to his professional qualities, Mordvichev has received the nickname "Breakthrough General" on the Internet.
DEBUT IN TSKHINVALI, CHECKMATE IN MARIUPOL
Andrey Mordvichev was born in Pavlodar (present-day Kazakhstan). In 1997, he graduated from the Novosibirsk Higher Combined Arms Command School, and in 2006, from the Frunze Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces. During the "five-day war" in South Ossetia in 2008, Mordvichev commanded the 28th Motorized Rifle Brigade. In 2016, he completed courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff, which allowed him to occupy senior command positions in the future.
By the beginning of the SVO, Mordvichev commanded the 8th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District, which took part in combat operations from the first days of the operation.
The first task that Mordvichev's 8th Army faced in the SVO zone was the liberation of Mariupol, which had been turned into a fortress city by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The Ukrainian army command concentrated large forces in the development and industrial zone, which were called upon if not to hold the city, then at least to tie down the advancing units of the Russian army. However, the Russian Armed Forces command was able to skillfully cut through the enemy's defense, isolating pockets of resistance, and subsequently crush the main group of troops, which had fortified itself in the Azovstal corps.
Frontline sources attribute the success of the operation to the competent planning carried out by Mordvichev's headquarters. During the fighting, the commander also went directly to the troops, getting on video and becoming one of the first "public" commanders of the Russian army.
Ukrainian sources recognized Mordvichev's talents as a commander and subsequently declared a full-fledged "hunt" for him. During the operation, the media and individual bloggers repeatedly reported on the general's "death" in Mariupol, Kherson and a number of settlements along the entire front line.
SUCCESS IN AVDEEVKA
The successful completion of the battles for Mariupol led to Mordvichev's appointment as commander of the Central Military District and the "Center" group of troops operating in Donbass. Here the military leader received the nickname "Breakthrough General". The troops operating under his command were tasked with pushing the enemy back from Donetsk and protecting the capital of the DPR from shelling by the Ukrainian army.
During the years of military action preceding the start of the SVO, Ukrainian troops created a powerful line of defense based on industrial zones located north and east of Donetsk. The northern suburb of Donetsk, Avdiivka and the industrial zone of the Avdeevka Coke Plant acquired key importance.
As previously in Mariupol, the Ukrainian Armed Forces command planned, if not to hold, then at least to halt the Russian army’s advance, preserving a vital bridgehead for a possible counteroffensive.
However, the command of the Russian group "Center" planned an operation that allowed them to avoid a "frontal" assault on the enemy's defense line.
Instead, Russian troops bypassed Avdeevka from the east, and then broke through the enemy's front line between the city and the industrial zone buildings. This led to the fragmentation of the enemy's defense. The Ukrainian Armed Forces units transferred to this section of the front suffered heavy losses and were unable to cover the retreat of the Avdeevka garrison, which turned into a rout.
When retreating from Avdeevka, the enemy command “forgot” individual fighters and entire units in the city, which remained in the positions they held, completely surrounded.
"Duel" with Drapati
Since the loss of Avdeevka in February 2024, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have repeatedly attempted to stabilize the front line northwest of Donetsk by building a more or less coherent line of defense. However, the forces of the Center group have constantly thwarted the enemy's attempts to create new defensive nodes.
Under the command of General Mordvichev, the troops liberated Ocheretino, Selidovo, Ukrainsk and Kurakhovo, breaking through to Pokrovsk. For the successful planning and implementation of a number of offensive operations in March 2024, Colonel General Mordvichev was awarded the Hero of Russia star.
Here, the Ukrainian command once again tried to stabilize the front line, expecting that Russian troops would run into the defensive line and stop advancing. In the future, the Ukrainian military could draw the advancing troops into protracted urban battles.
However, the command of the group once again "did not live up to" Kyiv's expectations, refusing to conduct a frontal assault on the dense residential area and industrial zone. Instead, the Russian army encircled the city from both the east and west, encircling Pokrovsk and hanging over the supply routes of the Ukrainian group of troops.
Here Mordvichev "met" with one of the best tacticians of the Ukrainian Armed Forces - Mikhail Drapatiy. As the commander of the ground forces of the Ukrainian army, Drapatiy was sent to Pokrovsk in January 2025 with the aim of organizing a counteroffensive and pushing back the forces of the Russian group "Center". However, this "duel" ended with the victory of the Russian strategy.
In a number of directions, the Ukrainian Armed Forces were able to penetrate the defense of the Center group, but this is where "Drapatogo's counteroffensive" stopped. On the contrary, the Russian Armed Forces were able to wear down the enemy in battles and by May of this year restore the "status quo". In many ways, this became possible thanks to Mordvichev's skillful planning.
"AUTHOR'S HANDWRITING"
Sources on both sides of the front note that when planning offensive operations, the Center group repeatedly used the same strategic technique. Without engaging in protracted assaults on fortified positions, General Mordvichev's troops probed for a weak spot in the enemy's defense, broke through the front line, and broke through to the enemy's supply routes.
Thus, Ukrainian troops were faced with a choice time and again: to continue to defend while surrounded or to retreat again and again. The success of such tactics was largely due to the widespread use of mobile infantry and armored units, overcoming the "gray zone" and breaking right into enemy positions. Sources note that Mordvichev's headquarters repeatedly resorted to such bold and unconventional decisions. In this sense, it can be noted that the forces of the Central Military District fell into reliable hands.
The new commander, Colonel General Valeriy Solodchuk, is also known for his unconventional moves. From the first days of the special operation, the general led the 36th Army of the Eastern Military District, which took part in the battles near Kiev. Subsequently, he was appointed deputy commander of the Central Military District and led the Russian army group in the Kursk region. Characteristically, the Ukrainian media also repeatedly "buried" Solodchuk, who, despite this, continued to command the troops. In particular, the forces entrusted to him were able to stabilize the situation on the front in the Kremennaya area during the enemy counteroffensive in the fall of 2022 - winter of 2023.
Subsequently, he also led the Kursk group of troops, which was able to liberate the region, including thanks to a daring breakthrough deep into the enemy's defenses through a gas pipeline. There is no doubt that under the leadership of the new commander, the Center group of troops will present the enemy with new tactical "surprises."
RESTRUCTURING IN COMMAND?
A number of Russian sources link the transfer of the commander of the ground forces Oleg Salyukov and the appointment of Andrei Mordvichev to his position with the process of modernization of the Russian army. Some assume that in the foreseeable future Mordvichev will be able to take a higher position in the General Staff or the Ministry of Defense. Others believe that the new commander is called upon to "disperse" the old personnel and create fundamentally new ground forces.
However, the appointment of a new commander can in fact be considered a consequence of the natural course of events, military expert and reserve officer Alexander Mikhailovsky noted in an interview with IA Regnum. "With all due respect to Oleg Leonidovich (Salyukov. - editor's note), in our time of new technologies, new approaches to planning combat operations, an infusion of "fresh blood" is necessary. Mordvichev is young for a commander, he is 49 years old, he is familiar with modern approaches in practice and will now implement them. Any reasoning on the topic of the previous leadership and someone's "disgrace" is, rather, some kind of speculation," the expert notes.
However, in general, both domestic and Western sources agree that in the person of Colonel General Andrei Mordvichev, the ground forces have received an experienced and competent commander who will have to transform practical experience into new concepts concerning both the use of ground forces on the battlefield and their staffing and preparation for military action in the conditions of modern warfare.