Reports about two major developments in the Ukraine war have been circulating in social and Ukrainian media since Saturday. While a Ukrainian special unit claims to have killed the deputy head of the Wagner group, Putin is said to have deposed an important colonel general.

Vladimir Putin has reportedly made an exciting personnel decision. Russian Colonel-General Alexander Lapin has been recalled from his post as commander of the Central Military District. Sources reported this to the Moscow Times, among others. The Chechen state broadcaster Grozny also reported Lapin’s resignation. Officially, this information has not yet been confirmed.

Lapin has been the commander of the Central Military District of Russia since 2017. The “Centre” army group he led in Ukraine occupied the Luhansk region. In the summer, Lapin was awarded the title of Hero of Russia by President Putin. after he is said to have been responsible for the capture of Lysychansk.

But Lapin was not even near the city, criticized Chechen head of state Ramzan Kadyrov. Kadyrov recently called Lapin “inactive” and accused him of allowing Ukrainian troops to break through part of the front.

On the same day, another development boils up in social media. The reason: A post from the Ukrainian special unit Khort. It said the unit killed Group Deputy Chief of Staff Wagner. This is reported, among other things, by the “Kyiv Independent”. Accordingly, the special force met hundreds of Wagner mercenaries and killed 200 of them. Including the vice boss. However, the group does not go into detail about the process.

The Wagner mercenary group is considered an important part of the Russian struggle in Ukraine. The information has not yet been independently verified.