Aleksandr Pavlovich Lapin (; born 1 January 1964) is a

Russian army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

officer and commander of the

Leningrad Military District The Order of Lenin Leningrad Military District () is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010, it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern ...

from 16 May 2024. He was promoted to the rank of

colonel general Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

in 2019. He was the commander of the Army Group "Center" of the Russian Army Forces in the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. On 10 January 2023, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the

Russian Ground Forces The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

Biography

Early life and career

Lapin was born on 1 January 1964. After graduating from high school, he studied at the Kazan Chemical–Technological Institute from 1981 to 1982. From 1982 to 1984 he served in the ranks of the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

in the

Soviet Air Defense Forces The Soviet Air Defence Forces (; ) was the air defence branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Formed in 1941, it continued being a service branch of the Russian Armed Forces after 1991 until it was merged into the Russian Air Force, Air Force in 1998 ...

. After that, he entered the Kazan Higher Tank Command School named after the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the

Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as Tatar ASSR or TASSR, was an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, autonomous republic of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR. The resolution for its crea ...

, from which he graduated in 1988. After graduation, he served as commander of a tank platoon and tank company in the

and in the Coastal Forces of the

Northern Fleet The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic. According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...

. In 1997, he graduated from the Malinovsky Military Armored Forces Academy. After graduation, he served in the 58th Combined Arms Army as the commander of a separate tank battalion. Since 1999, Lapin was the chief of staff, commander of the 429th Motor Rifle Regiment of the 19th Motor Rifle Division. From 2001 to 2003, he became the Chief of Staff of the 20th Guards Motorized Rifle Carpathian-Berlin Division.

General Staff (2003-2020)

From 2003 to 2006, Lapin became the commander of the 205th Motorized Rifle Cossack Brigade and promoted to major general. From 2006 to 2007, he was the commander of the 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division. In 2009, he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. After graduating from the academy, he was deputy commander of the 58th Army. From April 2012 to July 2014, Lapin commanded the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army.

Deputy Commander, Eastern (2014-2017)

In 2014, he was awarded the military rank of Lieutenant General. From 2014 to 2017, he was the Chief of Staff - First Deputy Commander of the Eastern Military District. In 2017, Lapin became the chief of staff of the grouping of the Russian troops and forces in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. He was promoted to colonel general in 2019.news.mail.ru
. From September to November 2017, Lapin was the Head of the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Commander, Central (2017-2019)

Lapin was the commander of the

Central Military District The Order of the Red Banner Central Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primarily within the centr ...

from 22 November 2017.

Commander, Syria

From October 2018 to January 2019, he was the commander of the grouping of the Russian troops and forces in

Highest Staff (2020-present)

In 2020, he graduated from the faculty of retraining and advanced training of the highest command personnel of the Military Academy of the General Staff.

Invasion of Ukraine

In June 2022 it was revealed that he was the commander of the Army Group "Center" of the Russian Army Forces in the

. In late March, he visited the front line and awarded a medal to his son, the commander fighting in

Sumy Sumy (, , ) is a city in northeastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Sumy Oblast. The city is situated on the banks of the Psel (river), Psel River and has a population of making it the 23rd-largest in the country. The city ...

and

Chernihiv Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukraine ...

, just before the Russian army withdrew. An investigation by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

alleged that troops under Lapin's command had killed civilians in Nova Basan and Bobrovytsia during the first months of the invasion and suggested that Lapin could be prosecuted for war crimes under the doctrine of

command responsibility In the practice of international law, command responsibility (also superior responsibility) is the legal doctrine of hierarchical accountability for war crimes, whereby a commanding officer (military) and a superior officer (civil) are legally r ...

if the killings were sufficiently widespread. Following the October 2022 recapture of Lyman by Ukrainian forces, Lapin was heavily criticized by the head of the Chechen Republic,

Ramzan Kadyrov Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician and current head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated with the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Chechen independence movement, through his father who was the ...

. Kadyrov blamed Lapin for the Russian retreat, saying he would demote Lapin to the rank of private, strip him of his medals, and send him to the front line barefoot with a light machine gun to "wipe away his shame with blood". The Kremlin told Kadyrov to "set aside emotions" during the "

special military operation "Special military operation" (also "special operation", and abbreviated as "SMO" or "SVO", or , ) is the official term used by the Russian government to describe the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is widely considered a euphemism intended to ...

". On 29 October, Lapin was dismissed as commander from the Central Military District, replaced by Alexander Linkov.

Chief of Staff of the Russian Ground Forces

On 10 January 2023 Russian media reported that Lapin had been assigned to the post of

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the

. In the months leading up to the August 2024 Ukrainian incursion into Kursk, Lapin dismantled a border guard council that had been responsible for its protection.

Sanctions

On 15 March 2022, against the background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lapin was placed on the UK sanctions list as being responsible for the deployment of Russian troops involved in the attack on Ukraine. On 5 May, he is listed on Canada's sanctions list for "complicity in President Putin's choice to invade a peaceful and sovereign country." On October 19, 2022, he fell under the sanctions of Ukraine as "involved in the aggression against Ukraine.". For similar reasons, he is on the sanctions lists of Australia and New Zealand.

Family

He is married and has a son, identified by BBC Russia as Lt. Colonel Denis Aleksandrovich Lapin, commanding officer of the 1st Guards Tank Regiment v/ch 58198.

Awards

Hero of the Russian Federation Hero of the Russian Federation ( rus, Герой Российской Федерации, p=ɡʲɪˈroj rɐˈsʲijskəj fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨɪ), also unofficially called Hero of Russia ( rus, Герой России, p=ɡʲɪˈroj rɐˈsʲiɪ), is ...

* Order of St. George IV degree (2017) *

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree 442. Until the re-establishment of the Order of St. Andrew in 1998, it was the highest order of ...

Order of Alexander Nevsky The Order of Alexander Nevsky () is an Order (distinction), order of merit of the Russia, Russian Federation named in honour of saint Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263) and bestowed to civil servants for twenty years or more of highly meritorious ser ...

* Order of Courage * Order of Military Merit *

Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a Russian medal. It was established on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree No.442. Its award criteria were modified on 6 January 1999 by Presidential Decree 19 and again on 7 September 201 ...

* Medal "For military distinction" * Medal "To the participant of the military operation in Syria" ; * Medal "For action in Palmyra" * Combat Commonwealth Medal (

) .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapin, Aleksandr 1964 births Living people Military personnel from Kazan People from Kazan Russian colonel generals Soviet Army officers Heads of military schools Russian military personnel of the Russian invasion of Ukraine Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Russia) Recipients of the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions 21st-century Russian military personnel Recipients of the Order of Courage (Russia) Recipients of the Medal "Participant of the military operation in Syria"