The President released from his duties and sent into retirement from military service Valentin Korabelnikov, the previous head of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff’s Chief Intelligence Directorate.
Mr Medvedev awarded Mr Korabelnikov the Order for Services to the Fatherland III degree for his contribution to strengthening the country’s defence capability.
The President appointed Lieutenant General Alexander Shlyakhturov as the new head of the GRU and deputy chief of the Armed Forces General Staff. Lieut. Gen. Shlyakhturov previously held the post of first deputy head of the GRU.