The war in Ukraine is going badly for Russia. How bad is indicated by a new personnel at the top of the military: In the future, Sergei Surovikin will command the entire invasion troops – a post that has not existed for a long time. The individual armed forces will presumably work together in a more coordinated manner in the future, even if the army is likely to remain poorly equipped.
They call him “General Armageddon”: Sergei Surovikin
© Pavel Golovkin/AP/DPA
80 missiles on Surovikin’s first day of work
Above all, the 55-year-old owes the promotion to his special talents: he is considered to be particularly brutal and unscrupulous, they call him “General Armageddon”. In Syria, for example, he had countless districts ruthlessly bombed and did not shy away from dropping barrel bombs on hospitals and schools. On Surovikin’s first day on the job, Russia fired more than 80 rockets at Ukrainian cities.
The general may embody a new course in Kremlin warfare. Because the criticism of the lousy performance of the Russian army is now also a topic in the country’s talk shows. Hardliners and hawks are calling for a further escalation of the fighting. President Vladimir Putin himself, although largely responsible for some wrong decisions, is (still) sacrosanct, but not the army leadership. Above all, Defense Minister and Putin’s intimate friend Sergei Shoigu is the subject of criticism.
Who bears what responsibility in Russia?
Probably also to cushion the pressure from the hard-line warmongers and at the same time to hold them accountable, the president recently made his “bloodhound” Ramzan Kadyrov colonel-general. The Chechen President openly calls for the use of atomic bombs.
The promotions and personnel changes suggest that the atmosphere in the Kremlin is anything but good. Only: Who bears which responsibility now, who is driving whom, which power blocks are reporting where and who has what to say? An overview.
Sources: Institute for the Study of War, NTV“daily mirror“, WDR“Focus“, RND, CNN, Bavarian radio, Express.at“mirror“