New head of Russian land forces distinguished himself in Ukraine

A colonel general dubbed "General Breakthrough" for distinguishing himself in key battles in Moscow's more than three-year-old war in Ukraine has been appointed head of Russia's land forces, the daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta said on Friday. The government daily said Andrei Mordvichev was born in 1976 in what was then Soviet Kazakhstan and last year was decorated as a Hero of Russia, the country's highest award. Mordvichev, previously head of the Central Military District, commanded operations that led to the 2022 surrender of Ukrainian units holding out in the Azovstal steelworks after a siege of about 80 days in the southern...