MOSCOW, August 14 (AVN) - Moscow military district commander Colonel General Ivan Yefremov wants Lieutenant General Alexei Merkuryev to be appointed the district's chief-of-staff, a source in the Defence Ministry told the Military News Agency.
Merkuryev commands the 22nd general army headquartered in Nizhny Novgorod. The current chief-of-staff and first deputy commander of the district Colonel General Nikolai Makarov was the district's acting chief from April to June this year.
According to the source, Yefremov spoke with Merkuryev and the army chief agreed for the new appointment. Yefremov commanded the 22nd army before he became the Moscow district's chief-of-staff in 1996. Merkuryev served under his command.
Another deputy chief of the district, Lieutenant General Alexander Belousov, as well as heads of the district's leading departments and services, may be replaced too, the source said.