According to the Russian "News" on September 21, Russia's 78th channel cited the news agency of the Leningrad military district news agency the same day that Leningrad military district commander Alexander Rabin has been dismissed.
Russian TV channel RBC also cited a source informed on the 21st that Rabin had been dismissed. Russian Kazan news site Tatar-inform that Rabin could serve as an assistant to the leader of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minyanov, but the website did not specify the specific source of information.
Official Russian documents on Rabin's dismissal or new appointment have not yet been released.
According to public information, Rabin was born in Kazan in 1964, graduated from the Kazan Higher Tank Command School in 1988, graduated from the Malinovsky Panzer Military Academy in 1997, graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Armed Forces in 2009, graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Federation in 2020 and graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Federation.
Rabin was appointed commander of the 20th Guards Group Army of Russia's Western Military District in 2012, and became chief of staff of the Eastern Military District in 2014. In 2017, Rabin served as chief of staff of Russian troops in the Syrian Arab Republic and commanded Russian troops in Syria from October 2018 to January 2019. In 2019, he was awarded the rank of general.
After the start of Russia's "special military operation" on Ukraine in 2022, Rabin was in charge of the Russian "central" cluster, participating in operations in areas such as the state of Lugansk.
Rabin was later appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Army, and from May 2024 he served as commander of the Russian Leningrad Military District, leading the Russian "Northern" cluster, which is mainly responsible for the Russian military operations in Harkov, Sumei and other directions in Ukraine. In August this year, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that Yevgeny Nikiforov succeeded Rabin and became commander of the "Northern" cluster.
Kadyrov, the leader of the Russian Republic of Chechnya, "bombarded" Rabin in October 2022, accusing the troops under his command of poorly performing in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, the Russian media "Russia Today" mentioned that when Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the conscripts in the Belgorod region in June 2023, he said that "General Rabin personally fought side by side with soldiers with standard weapons."