Russia’s brutal battle on Ukraine is now being led by a ruthless commander recognized by his troops as “Common Armageddon.”
The Kremlin appointed Gen. Sergey Surovikin, 56, as general commander of Russia’s joint group of forces in its so-called “particular army operation” on Saturday.
Simply two days later, greater than 80 long-range missiles rained down throughout Ukraine — together with one simply ft from a youngsters’ playground — in probably the most dramatic escalation for the reason that invasion almost eight months in the past.
“I'm not stunned to see what occurred … Surovikin is completely ruthless, with little regard for human life,” a former protection ministry official who has labored with Surovikin informed the Guardian.
“I'm afraid his arms shall be utterly coated in Ukrainian blood.”
Surovikin gained his ominous “Common Armageddon” nickname whereas main Russian forces in Syria — the place he was accused of overseeing a brutal bombardment that destroyed a lot of the town of Aleppo.
“This can be a man who regards terror as a legit, possibly even inevitable a part of battle,” historian Mark Galeotti wrote in The Spectator.
Simply 2 days after Surovikin's promotion, Russia launched a few of its worst missile assaults on Ukraine, with one touchdown simply ft from a playgorund in Kyiv.
Human rights and Ukrainian officers have all known as Monday's assaults "battle crimes."
Different missiles destroyed buildings in Kyiv, the primary such assaults on the capital in months.
The assaults left charred stays of vehicles on the street in Kyiv and several other different areas throughout Ukraine.
Human Rights Watch highlighted him as one of many commanders who “knew or ought to have recognized in regards to the abuses” in Syria “and took no efficient steps to cease them or punish these straight accountable.”
That 2020 report mentioned Russian forces underneath his command struck Syrian “houses, colleges, healthcare amenities, and markets – the locations the place individuals stay, work, and research.”
“Surovikin’s command was scientific, brutal, and most of all, ferociously calculated,” Charles Lister, director of the Syria program on the US-based Center East Institute, informed Radio Free Europe (RFE).
The Kremlin as a substitute awarded Surovikin the Hero of Russia medal — the nation’s highest army honor — for his Syrian management. It continued selling him to his present prime place main the be part of forces.
“For Ukraine, I’d fear so much about Surovikin’s completely unforgiving angle to the enemy — seen as combatants and civilians alike — and his laser-like concentrate on attaining army progress irrespective of the fee or threat.
“Finally, civilians are prone to endure probably the most.”
Actually, Surovikin’s four-decade-long rise by the ranks got here despite the fact that he confronted authorized hassle, each for his brutality and in addition corruption and arms dealing.
Surovikin was promoted Saturday to command the joint group of forces within the so-called "particular army operation in Ukraine."
Surovikin's rise by the ranks has seen such ruthless brutality he's nicknamed "Common Armageddon."
Surovikin was named by Human Rights Watch as one of many commanders who "knew or ought to have recognized in regards to the abuses" in Syria.
In 1991, at simply 24, he spent a couple of months in jail after three protesters had been killed when his unit’s armored car ran over them in the course of the coup d’état try launched by Soviet hardliners, RFE mentioned.
On the time, he was accused of getting personally shot one of many three protesters. Nevertheless, he was later cleared and freed, reportedly on orders from then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
In 2004, Surovikin was investigated — however finally cleared — after considered one of his troops killed himself after a ferocious reprimand.
“Officers of a superb commander don't shoot themselves within the workplace with service weapons,” one officer beforehand informed RFE.
Surovikin was additionally convicted of three costs tied to arms trafficking and unlawful weapons gross sales, getting a yr’s probation, RFE mentioned. He later insisted he had been cleared and obtained an apology.
“He has had a profession that’s been blighted by accusations of each corruption and brutality,” mentioned Sidharth Kaushal, a analysis fellow at army assume tank the Royal United Companies Institute.
“So that could be some perception into how he'll strategy” his management of the battle on Ukraine, he mentioned.
“However then once more, the Russian strategy has already been fairly brutal.”
Galeotti, the historian, mentioned in his Spectator column that it's “uncertain” Surovikin “can change the underlying dynamic of the battle.”
“Nonetheless, he'll presumably be anticipated to attempt and that's prone to imply many extra air raid sirens in cities and cities throughout Ukraine.”
His appointment — and the instant escalation in lethal air assaults — is being hailed by a number of the most bloodthirsty factions within the Kremlin and its loyal allies.
“I welcome this appointment with pleasure and I'm glad,” Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel, days after griping about failings by his closest allies.
“The joint group of troops is now in secure arms … Now, I'm 100% glad with the operation,” he wrote.
With Put up wires
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