• Following highly criticized comments last year, the head of Germany's Bundeswehr is being replaced. Major General Carsten Breuer helped manage Germany's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has named Major General Carsten Breuer as the new head of Germany's armed forces, German media reported Monday.

Breuer, 59, is replacing General Eberhard Zorn, 63, who had come under fire for his flawed analysis of Russian and Ukrainian military capabilities.

Breuer gained renown for leading Germany's pandemic crisis response team from November 2021 to 2022.

His ascent to the role of "general inspector" of the Bundeswehr will make him the highest-ranking soldier in the country.