Another change of direction from the Kremlin. The goal is to win the war

Another change of direction from the Kremlin. The goal is to win the war

Another change of direction in the Kremlin. The goal is to counter the Ukrainian counteroffensive and win the war. Russian President Vladimir Putin has revolutionized the senior ranks of the Russian army: Valeriy Gerasimov, Russian general and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, has been removed as head of operations in Ukraine.
It should be underlined that Gerasimov is the father of «hybrid warfare», controversial theory developed by the senior officer which envisages attacking the adversary not only on a military level but also on an economic, cognitive, technological and IT level by making extensive use of unconventional procedures.
Valeriy Gerasimov, 67, a graduate of the Kazan Higher Command School, formally retains the position of chief of the General Staff, but "is no longer involved in solving problems at the front," writes Rybar. According to Rybar, the colonel general is taking his place Mikhail Teplinsky: a year ago he took over as commander of the air troops, and in April he became deputy commander of the group in Ukraine, he is now responsible for the actual leadership of the troops.

The news that Teplinsky is effectively heading the operation in place of Gerasimov was confirmed by Romanov Lite on Saturday 8 July.

According to the Russian press, the pretext for large-scale dismissals in the Russian Armed Forces was the Wagner Group mutiny, following which Russian investigators and military representatives took over both the leadership of the military administration and the commanders of individual unit.

Putin, lacking military experience, began to participate directly in military planning and one after another fired generals who did not lead to victory, "divided" and "disorganized" the army's command structures, experts write of ISW: as a result, its ability to run a “coherent” campaign was undermined.

Since the start of the war, Putin has changed the commander of the army launched to conquer Ukraine at least four times, and it remains unclear who exactly led the invasion in the first weeks, the Institute for the Study of War noted.

The Russian president would probably like to take full credit "for the dramatic victory he was waiting for", write the geopolitical experts.

Alexander Dvornikov had headed the Russian grouping since last April, and two months later he was replaced by Gennady Zhidko, who was fired in October – shortly after the surrender of the Kharkiv region. His replacement, Serhiy Surovikin, who had distinguished himself with massive missile attacks on energy infrastructure, remained in his place until January. Then he was replaced by Gerasimov, who now had to give way to Teplinsky.

In all, from February 2022 to May 2023, Putin replaced at least 17 high-level military commanders, experts at the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) previously estimated.

Putin has replaced the commander of the Western Military District four times: first it was Alexander Zhuravlev, in June last year he was replaced by Andrey Sychevoy and two months later the position was taken by Roman Berdnikov. In October he was replaced by Sergei Kuzovlev, also for only two months: at the end of December the position was entrusted to Yevgeny Nikiforov.

Putin has the commander of the Eastern Military District changed three times: Alexander Chaiko, who had led the failed attempt to take over Kiev, was fired in May last year. He was replaced by Gennady Zhidko, who was replaced by Rustam Muradov. The latter was dismissed in March after the failure of the offensive on Ugledar, where two elite Marine brigades were eliminated in the minefields.
The Southern Military District is now led by Sergey Kuzovlev and the Central Military District by Andrey Mordvichev.