Monday’s missile strikes on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure are the style of the new commander of the Russian armed forces stationed in Ukraine, General Serhii Surovykin, who has been nicknamed General “Armageddon” after he led a campaign of merciless aerial bombardment in Syria of civilians and areas under his control. rebels Andriy Yusov, an employee of the Intelligence Service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, reported this, Ukrinform reports. Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin hopes to turn the tide of the war by appointing a ruthless commander, but that’s a tall order, analysts say.

“When we carried out combat missions in Syria, we did not forget for a moment that we were defending Russia,” the new commander of the “special military operation” Sergey Surovikin told a crowd of elite soldiers who gathered for a ceremony in Moscow in 2017, according to The Guardian.

According to a 2020 Human Rights Watch report, “defender” Surovikin spoke of dozens of air and ground attacks on civilian targets and infrastructure, which said that Russian forces under his command struck “homes, schools, sanitary facilities” projects and Syrian markets – places where people live, work and study,” the British publication notes.

According to a Forbes analysis, on Monday morning Russia launched 84 cruise missiles and 24 drones over Ukraine, with an average total cost of between $400 and $700 million.

Among the “marked” targets in the Ukrainian capital were a park, the German consulate, a pedestrian bridge, a famous tourist attraction and a university.

“This is his style, the style of the new Gauleiter of the occupying army of Ukraine – to throw rockets into infrastructure, in particular, into civilian infrastructure objects. He knows that planes fly and that rockets can be launched from them. In fact, they did it to show that Putin’s new personnel appointments make some sense, to show some quick results,” Andriy Yusov said.

Moscow is counting on the success of Surovikin’s appointment

While Moscow hopes that Surovikin will turn a failure in Ukraine into a success, Yusov believes that a massive attack on Ukraine on Monday will not change anything strategically for Russia, Moscow will lose and Ukrainian territory will be liberated.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russia launched attacks on 20 Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, using some of Russia’s already dwindling precision weapons against civilian targets rather than military ones, so Putin would have less likely to hinder the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kherson and Luhansk regions.

General Surovikin first came to prominence during the Soviet coup attempt in 1991, when he led an infantry division through barricades erected by pro-democracy protesters. Three people died in the confrontation, including one who was crushed.

The brutal reputation grew in 2004 when Russian media reported that a colonel who served under Surovikin had committed suicide after being severely reprimanded by a man who earned the ominous nickname “General Armageddon” for his tough and unorthodox leadership approach. war .

Putin appointed him commander of Russian forces because of his reputation

Experts say Surovikin’s main task in Ukraine will be to solve the structural problems plaguing the Russian army, which is facing a brutal Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Military analyst Forbes McKenzie, chairman of McKenzie Intelligence, told Sky News that General Surovikin’s “brand” was the main reason for his appointment.

“He is seen as a hero of the former Soviet republic. He has demonstrated his ability to wage war with nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, the latter of which was used in Syria,” Forbes McKenzie said.

However, former US ambassador Matthew Bryza does not believe that Surovikin’s combat experience will be useful to Ukraine.

“Russia’s experience in Syria has had a negative impact on the thinking of the Kremlin and the Ministry of Defense,” Bryza told Middle East Eye.

“The Russian way of fighting in Syria has turned into destruction city by city, block by block, building by building, including civilian infrastructure, which is war crimes.”

Russia’s strategy will not bring it victory

Moscow can believe that Surovikin’s experience in Syria can achieve what it has so far failed to do: defeat the will of the Ukrainian people.

“Surovikin’s strategy to destroy cities in Ukraine is failing. It didn’t win him in Syria, and it looks like he’ll lose in Ukraine, too. Even with Surovikin, Russia cannot regain the initiative or win the war,” says Bryza.

While Putin hopes he will be brought back to play on the Ukrainian front, Hleb Irisov, a former Air Force lieutenant who served with Surovikin until 2020, says the new Russian military commander is “very bloody, but competent.” But this will not happen. able to “solve all problems” because Russia lacks weapons and troops.

Putin’s move is more political than tactical

Of course, the leader from the Kremlin appeased the nationalist camp by appointing General Armageddon, who gave Putin a decisive offensive against Ukraine.

Among Putin’s allies who criticized his military decisions were the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, and the head of Wagner’s mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who praised the appointment of General Sergei Surovikin to lead the Russian armed forces deployed in Ukraine.