Not certain where correspondents and others got the idea that being clean shaven would be required on the front. I suspect it General Valery Gerasimov who floated the idea, since he was taking other over operations in Ukraine. My assumption.
It's the kind of thing flag officers like to do when taking on a new command.
By the way, Viktor Sobolev is a deputy with the Russian national Duma. How much pull he has with the defense ministry, I have zero clue.
[RIA Novosti] The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov , did not agree with the opinion of the deputy, Lieutenant General Viktor Sobolev, who announced the need to shave off his beard in the army, and asked State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin to send those wishing to check compliance with the charter of parliamentarians to the special operation zone.
"I can imagine how surprised our fighters from the front line, mobilized, volunteers - both bearded and shaved. They did not even suspect that a dangerous enemy lurked in their ranks - facial hair!" — he wrote in the Telegram channel.
Kadyrov also called the likely ban "a clear provocation designed to dampen the morale of the fighters." He noted that "these bearded men" liberated Mariupol, Severodonetsk, Lisichansk and other cities, fulfilling all the tasks set by the headquarters.
Kadyrov advised to generate useful strategic ideas that will contribute to the accomplishment of tasks, and not to find fault with the fighters for any reason. The head of Chechnya also turned to the speaker of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, with a request to send the guardians of the charter to the front line.
Earlier, Sobolev said that the ban on wearing a beard is an elementary requirement of army discipline. He clarified that the requirements for a soldier, including appearance, are spelled out in the charter of military service.
This information was later commented on by the acting head of the DPR Denis Pushilin. He contacted the commandant's office and found out that "no such inspectors with such "brilliant" ideas came, no such teams descended."