Russian President Vladimir Putin is shaking up his military's top command after a string of losses, elevating a new general nicknamed "Armageddon" to lead the Ukraine invasion, CNBC reported.
According to a 2019 report by the Jamestown Foundation, Air Force General Sergei Surovikin has "a reputation for total ruthlessness," and his willingness "to vigorously execute any orders trounced any potential questions" about his checkered qualifications.
Surovikin was accused of physically assaulting officers under him while commanding the 34th motor-rifle division in 2004. One of those subordinate officers killed himself after Surovikin humiliated him.
Human Rights Watch also suggested his implication in several war crimes stemming from the Russian bombardment of Aleppo in 2016, including damage to civilian "homes, schools, healthcare facilities, and markets."
Surovikin is set to replace two Russian senior military commanders fired after Ukraine's largely successful counteroffensive in the southern Kherson region and portions of the area surrounding Kharkiv in the northeast.
Although some have lauded Surovikin's competence, Baltic Security Foundation senior fellow Glen Grant told Newsweek that his appointment is unlikely to salvage Russia's costly war effort.
"He has got to where he is in the same way as the other senior officers — by corruption, greasing palms, and being loyal, so he is no different from any of the others," Grant said. "He will try to be brutal, but he can't make a difference to the soldiering. All he can do is order people to die.
"He was in charge of the air force at the beginning of the war, but he didn't actually do anything. They were a miserable failure. I don't see that suddenly he is going to become a super general because to do anything, you would have to lead, and he is not a leader. He is a pugilist."
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