„The task was set to find a person who has proven to be the best in this field. One of the most qualified specialists in this sphere is considered to be Denis Igorevich Liamin, who until now served as the chief of staff of the ‘Center’ group,” said V. Putin, as quoted by the TASS agency.
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47-year-old D. Liamin is a tank officer by education – he graduated from the Chelyabinsk Higher Tank Command School. Over the years, he served as chief of staff of the 6th Separate Tank Brigade, chief of staff of the 1st Guards Tank Army, and commanded the 90th Tank Division, reports “The Moscow Times.”
At the beginning of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, D. Liamin led the forces that attacked Ukraine from the Crimea side and captured Kherson.
In 2023, he began commanding the 58th Army. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the creation of the Unmanned Systems Forces in November 2025. Until now, only the name of the deputy head of this new branch of the military has been officially announced – Colonel Sergei Istuganov.
The new commander replaced “Yura Unitaz”
Sources from the BBC Russian service said that command of the forces was previously entrusted to a businessman and volunteer from the Moscow region, Yuri Vaganov, who had no military education. In the army, he was nicknamed “Yura Unitaz” because he previously dealt in plumbing trade.
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“Z” bloggers wrote that he worked together with Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko, and their relationship was based “simply on commerce.” Specifically, J. Vaganov was criticized for supplying low-quality drones to the army – their combat warheads periodically exploded during launch, and operators died or were injured.
At the same time, war bloggers claimed that operators were threatened with being sent to assault units – they were forced to write negative reviews about those drones that entered army trials without J. Vaganov’s recommendations.
Also, “Z” bloggers criticized the very principle of forming these forces, as drone operators were taken from frontline line units fighting in the front lines, thus leaving those units without reconnaissance and cover. However, it remains unclear whether J. Vaganov was officially appointed as the commander of the forces – the corresponding presidential decree was not published.
V. Putin noted in a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense that the formation of drone forces is still ongoing. He expressed hope that the new commander will complete this process.
