New Russian Defense Ministry Appointments

Colonel General Nikolai Solovtsov has been appointed Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, the Novosti news agency quoted Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying. Land Forces Commander Nikolai Kormiltsev has become a deputy defense minister. The appointments have been decreed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, reported Sergei Ivanov. According to Ivanov, the former Strategic Missile Forces commander Army General Vladimir Yakovlev has been proposed to take another high post at the Defense Ministry, which will be announced very soon. Sergei Ivanov also said that Kormiltsev will be the only commander-in-chief also taking the position of a deputy minister. The defense minister explained it by the "amplitude" of goals facing Kormiltsev. Particularly, he will be instructed to shoulder combat training of land forces in cooperation with all fighting arms.