Vladimir Putin personally called his new war commander, nicknamed "General Armageddon", to congratulate him and demand more carnage in Ukraine, it has been reported.
General Sergei Surovikin is seen as the Kremlin’s last hope of winning the war with his notoriously ruthless battle plans.
Two days after his appointment, dozens of missiles struck Ukrainian cities in attacks seen as war crimes by the West.
He may also deploy Belarusian military equipment including tanks seen on video being moved by train to boost the Russian war effort.
Putin phoned Surovikin to congratulate him on his new role as well as to wish him a happy 56th birthday.
However, it has been rumoured that Surovikin is being set up as the fall guy.
Russia was careful to say he was appointed not by Putin but by defence minister Sergei Shoigu, a close ally of the Kremlin boss, who is also likely to be fired and blamed for failures in the conflict, including the disastrous mobilisation, said experts.
Putin’s spokesman said: "The president called and congratulated Sergei Surovikin on his birthday."
The general, who is known for his brutal tactics as Putin’s commander in Syria, is believed to have discussed tactics with the Russian president.
While he has been widely nicknamed ‘General Armageddon’ amid fears he could unleash nuclear weapons on Putin’s orders, others are labelling him ‘General Defeat’.
Asked about Surovikin’s appointment, political analyst Valery Solovey said: “It means only one thing - someone should be held liable for the failure of this operation.
“That's why we're seeing [who is] responsible.
“It's not an accident that he appears seven months after the beginning of the operation.
“It means that the president now steps back from the daily management that he performed from time to time.”
Surovikin would become the “scapegoat” while Putin would also “choose the time to sacrifice Sergei [Shoigu].”
Solovey, who is a self-styled expert on Putin and former professor at Moscow’s prestigious Institute of International Relations [MGIMO], believes Putin is ailing from health problems and has already taken the decision in principle to use nuclear weapons.
But he said Russia is losing the war and heading for a “large scale political crisis” with possible civil war or foreign countries exploiting its weakness.
He suggested the Crimean Bridge blast was likely a Russian operation as a “diversion” - a trigger for Vladimir Putin to take out his emotions and punish Ukraine for it not only resisting quite successfully, but also inflicting blows on the Russian armed forces.
A video showed Belarusian equipment reportedly moving towards Russia “for use by Putin’s forces” including up to 30 T-72A tanks and at least 28 Ural trucks.
They were taken out of storage from the 969th tank reserve base in the Minsk region, it was reported.
Some five units of Tor-M2 surface-to-air missiles for use against drones were also carried by train, it was reported by the Belarusian Hajun Project.
Several such trains were seen moving towards Russia, in what is seen as a sign of desperation that Putin is calling on aged Belarusian military weaponry for use against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, there are claims that vote-rigging Putin ally Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko is playing a game of double bluff - and privately talking to western countries while publicly backing the Kremlin.
Solovey said: “Lukashenko has resumed consultations with several Western countries.”
These may be direct or via intermediaries in the Vatican, he suggested.
He is resisting deploying his troops to back Putin, in a move that angers the Kremlin leader, while he has sent mainly out-of-date equipment.
Lukashenko “is asking for guarantees of safety after everything starts changing in Russia and Belarus” following the war, said Solovey.
He knows he cannot survive if Putin falls and is suspected to be offering crumbs to the West in return for a safe haven - likely in Turkey or the Middle East - in the event of a revolution.
“It is not worthwhile for him to get involved in Ukraine, regardless of what he [publicly] says,” said the political analyst.
