The failures of the Russian army in Ukraine are now so obvious that criticism is growing louder in the country itself. Now the defense minister, who is under pressure, is reacting and appointing a new, war-experienced commander for the aggressive war in the neighboring country.
After numerous defeats in their war of aggression, the Russian troops in Ukraine now have a new commander. The 55-year-old Army General Sergei Surovikin was deployed by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to lead the "military special operation," said ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov in Moscow.
According to commentators, Shoigu is accommodating his critics who, in the face of defeats, had called for the troops in Ukraine to be regrouped. The situation was recently described as chaotic and catastrophic by military bloggers close to the Kremlin. According to the media, war reporters, field commanders and Wagner's private combat troops reacted enthusiastically to the appointment of the "responsible" soldier. Surovikin is considered an officer with extensive experience in wars, including in the past in Syria and before that in the Russian republic of Chechnya in the North Caucasus.
Zurovikin previously commanded the "South" forces of the Russian army in Ukraine, according to a July Defense Ministry report. The name of the previous commander of the operation in Ukraine was never officially mentioned. But according to Russian media reports, this was Alexander Dvornikov, who had also previously served in Chechnya and Syria.
In view of the many successes of the Ukrainian army in its defensive offensive and the recapture of many towns, Surovikin faces great challenges. The Russian army had recently withdrawn from the Kharkiv region and also had to give up the strategically important city of Lyman in the Donetsk region. This had once again sharpened the criticism of the Russian military leadership.
In view of this, Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin ordered partial mobilization in September, which, in addition to new commanders, should bring about a turnaround for Russia in Ukraine. Around 300,000 reservists are to be called up to hold the occupied parts of the Cherson, Zaporizhia, Luhansk and Donetsk regions and to recapture lost regions.
Russia had annexed the largely occupied areas after bogus referendums on accession to its territory under international protest. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that all occupied territories will be liberated, including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
