Russia appoints new general to lead Ukraine offensive after army leadership criticised for military setbacks
- General Sergey Surovikin, 55, who has been leading the ‘South’ forces in Ukraine, will be ‘commander of the Joint Grouping of Forces in the areas of the special military operation’
- He has combat experience in the 1990s conflicts in Tajikistan and Chechnya and in Syria in 2015
The Russian defence ministry said Air Force General Sergey Surovikin had been appointed “commander of the Joint Grouping of Forces in the areas of the special military operation”, using the Kremlin’s term for the offensive.
The decision – Moscow’s third senior military appointment in the space of a week – was announced after Moscow’s forces were pushed back by Kyiv in recent weeks in areas the Kremlin had declared Russian “forever”.
According to the ministry’s website, Surovikin is 55 and was born in Siberia’s Novosibirsk. He has led Russia’s Air and Space Force since 2017.
Until now Surovikin led the “South” forces in Ukraine, according to a defence ministry report in July.
The name of his predecessor has never been officially revealed, but some Russian media said it was General Sergey Surovikin who also a general of the Second Chechen War and Russian commander in Syria.