Soviets Replace Top Officer in E. Germany

The commander of the Soviet Union’s 400,000 troops in East Germany, Gen. Mikhail Zaitsev, has been replaced in the second major change in the Soviet military hierarchy in a year, the official ADN news agency said.

It said Zaitsev, a powerful figure long regarded as a possible future supreme commander of Warsaw Pact forces, was leaving his post along with Gen. Alexei Lissichev, a senior member of his staff. No successor was named.