President Vladimir Putin on Friday replaced Russia's army chief of staff with a veteran commander from the second Chechnya war, in a shake-up of the military after the sacking of the defense minister.

Army chief of staff Nikolai Makarov has been replaced by General Valery Gerasimov, a commander from the second Chechnya war, Putin announced days after the sacking of defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov in a graft scandal.

"You are an experienced person," Putin told Gerasimov in a meeting at the Kremlin that also included the new Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.