Colonel General Aleksandr Lentsov has become the new commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh, Sputnik Armenia reports, citing a source at the Ministry of Defense of Russia.

Lentsov, the former advisor to the Russian defense minister, will replace Major General Andrey Volkov, who held the aforesaid position for more than a year and three months.

Until 2020, Lentsov served as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces. He participated in the combat operations of the first and second wars in Chechnya, and in the Russian military operation in Syria.