Two Russian commanders resign due to Russia’s failures in Ukraine — ISW

Experts of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) write about it in their report.

According to military analysts, "rumors about the dismissal of Russian Eastern Group of Forces (Eastern Military District) Commander Colonel General Rustam Muradov on March 27 generated a muted and cynical response in the Russian information space."

In addition, according to the institute, it is speculated that military authorities are also considering dismissing Western Military District Commander Colonel General Yevgeny Nikiforov, whose forces operate along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line in eastern Ukraine. 

The report states that ISW cannot confirm rumors of Muradov or Nikiforov's dismissal, but it is worth noting that Russian military bloggers are discussing potential dismissals of commanders related to areas of operations in which Russian forces have failed to make significant gains or suffered significant losses.

Russian authorities and some milbloggers have focused on finding and punishing individual commanders for the failures of their troops, rather than investigating and solving issues in Russian command and control, the structure of the armed forces, and their deployment patterns, experts add.

ISW analysts also suggested in the report that the Russian military leadership likely involved a number of highly skilled units of the Wagner Group in the Avdiivka offensive in order to consolidate the recent limited tactical successes in the area. Experienced Wagner mercenaries strengthen the exhausted units of the Russian army.