Colonel-General Andrei Serdyukov, commander of the Russian Airborne Forces, was dismissed due to heavy losses among Russian paratroopers in the war in Ukraine. This was reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), citing unconfirmed Ukrainian sources.

Ukrainian officer Anatoly Shtefan said that the current chief of staff of the Central Military District, Colonel General Mikhail Teplinskiy, has been appointed the new commander of the Airborne Forces. Lieutenant General Anatoly Kontsevoi became his deputy.

The ISW cannot independently confirm these claims or Serdyukov's exact role in the invasion of Ukraine, but if they are true, it would indicate that Serdyukov was responsible for the poor performance and heavy losses among Russian airborne units, especially in early operations near Kyiv. Continued layoffs and possible internal purges of high-ranking Russian officers are likely to further undermine the weak capabilities of the Russian command and the confidence of Russian officers.

The Kremlin did not make official statements about Serdyukov's resignation, but several Russian media outlets wrote about this, citing Channel One military commissar Irina Kuksenkova and the VKontakte group VDV. Army of Russia.

In 2014, Serdyukov led the Russian annexation of Crimea. In 2019, he was the commander of the grouping of Russian troops in Syria. In January 2022, he led the CSTO "peacekeeping" forces during the dispersal of protests in Kazakhstan.