Sergei Surovikin, in Moscow at the end of October. RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY PRESS S (EFE)
As the most radical Russian sector congratulated itself on the advance of its troops in Soledar, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu came on the table this Wednesday, replacing the esteemed Sergei Surovikin with the criticized Valeri Gerasimov as the sole chief of Russia’s armed forces in Ukraine. A change that has drawn criticism and comes just a day after the rise of another general openly condemned by the Kremlin’s ultra-nationalist wing, Alexander Lapin, who is accused of giving away the city of Limán during the autumn debacles. This dance of chairs reinforces the internal strife within the Russian high command, where the mercenary company Wagner wages war and claims victories.
Gerasimov (Kazán, 67 years old) is also the chief of the Russian General Staff, and he and Shoigu are the most criticized because of the failed war planning. The Kremlin expected a quick campaign, but Putin’s land, sea and air offensive, announced on February 24, is well on its way to a year, and the general has spent all those months in stealth.
The Ministry of Defense justified the reorganization of the high command “with the expansion of the scope of the tasks to be solved; the need to organize closer interaction between the different branches of the armed forces; and improving the effectiveness of command and control of battlegroups”.
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Gerasimov will now serve as the leader of the combined forces fighting in Ukraine and will have General Oleg Saliukov as deputy commander-in-chief of ground forces; Colonel-General Alexei Kim as deputy chief of staff; and Surovikin himself as deputy commander of the Aerospace Forces.
The disagreements within the high command are notable. The owner of the Wagner mercenary company, which is also now being fed by thousands of inmates against promises of their pardon, has announced the capture of Soledar in Donetsk province, while the Russian Defense Ministry and the Ukrainian government assure that there is still fighting. Businessman Yevgueni Prigozhin, who is at odds with Shoigu over losing contracts with the army, said on Tuesday that the city was under control solely thanks to his armed forces: “I would like to emphasize that no units other than Wagner’s fighters took part in the attack on Soledar,” confirmed the press service of the person known as Putin’s boss, who also released a video of his alleged visit to one of the mines he wants to own in the area.
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For his part, the spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry made no mention of Wagner in his daily report, reducing the significance of this move to just one paragraph, Russia’s first notorious one in half a year. “Airborne units have blocked Soledar to the north and south of the city. The Russian Aerospace Forces are attacking the enemy fortresses and the assault squads are fighting in the city,” was the brief commentary on the battle.
Gerasimov succeeds Surovikin, whose October appointment as sole chief of Russia’s forces in Ukraine was applauded by the war’s most zealous sector. The troops had just been driven out of the Kharkiv region by the Ukrainian army and the western part of Kherson was about to fall. Surovikin was then in charge of Russian aviation and was a strong supporter of bombing civilian infrastructure in Syria, as he would later repeat in Ukraine. In addition, he had previous experience in other conflicts: from the fighting in Chechnya to the 1991 coup d’état by the Soviet leadership to quell the protests. arriving at the corps.
Valeri Gerasimov, in Moscow in December. SERGEI FADEICHEV (AFP)
Prigozhin and Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov blessed Surovikin’s appointment after criticizing another commander, Alexander Lapin, over the loss of Liman. The latter was described by the Chechen leader as “mediocre” weeks before Surovikin organized the orderly withdrawal from the city of Kherson, although the latter was described by all as an untenable place.
Bomb attack on New Year’s Eve
With Surovikin at the helm, criticism of the high command was toned down, with the exception of the New Year’s bombing in Makiivka, which killed dozens or hundreds of mobilized, depending on the Russian or Ukrainian version. However, the new appointments were a pitcher of cold water for ultranationalism. Lapin, who had faded into the background just three months ago, has now been appointed chief of the Russian ground army by Shoigu, while Surovikin takes a step back in his projection as commander.
Presidency sources assured digital newspaper Meduza in October that Putin was “not really interested in any general gaining too much popularity in the war.” Now the Kremlin stays away from these relays. “There are open presidential decrees and presidential decrees classified as secret. There is nothing among the published decrees,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov cryptically replied to Lapin’s rise this Wednesday.
“Surovikin was demoted to deputy commander. How many hopes the “patriots” had … And it turned out that their mission was to hand over Kherson.” independent journalist Dmitri Kolezev ironically tweeted.
Analyst Mark Galeotti wrote on Twitter that this step could mean that Putin “again has unrealistic expectations”. The Kremlin’s message, according to the Russia expert, is the resumption of a large-scale campaign, justifying the relief with the size of the powers in the executive board. According to Galeotti, “it confirms that serious offensives are coming” and possibly new waves of mobilization.
One of Russia’s pro-war analysts, Boris Rozhin, stressed on his Telegram channel that this reorganization is “an attempt to avoid the current duplication of command,” although he emphasized that the concentration of power lies with Gerasimov, who controls the units the fact that he is also Chief of General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces fighting in Ukraine “is without precedent”. “He will be personally responsible for the success of the operation. We’ll know very soon whether that helps the cause…” he warned the soldier.
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