Lagatar24 Desk
Moscow, Jan 12: Russia replaced its top commander in Ukraine on Wednesday by putting army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov in charge of its forces in the conflict.
“Army General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, has been appointed Commander of the Joint Grouping of Troops,” said the defence ministry.
Sergei Surovikin, the commander of Russia’s forces in Ukraine for the past three months, is removed from his role and will become Gerasimov’s deputy.
According to the Defense Ministry, Surovikin will be one of Gerasimov’s three deputies, along with Army General Oleg Salyukov and Colonel Gen. Alexey Kim, as part of a new joint group of forces.
“The increase in the level of leadership of the special operation is linked to the expansion of the scale of the tasks at hand and the need to organize closer interactions between troops,” said the ministry.
Rybar, one of Russia’s main Telegram channels, was sceptical about whether the switch could help Moscow’s troops have more to show from the lengthy operation. Rybar said, “Moving components around doesn’t change the overall sum, we want to believe in a miracle in the 11th month of the special operation.”
Two days after Surovikin’s appointment, the Russian army signalled a strategic change by unleashing a wave of drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure targets causing electricity blackouts and water outages in several cities.
Only a month after his appointment, Russia withdrew from the southern city of Kherson, the only regional capital it held.
Moscow forces are also leading a long and bloody battle in the east around Bakhmut and Soledar, where the situation was unclear on Wednesday.
