Vladimir Putin ’s “brutal” new war commander Sergei Surovikin is believed to be responsible for today’s horrific bombing of Ukrainian cities.
General Surovikin, 55, is a “totally ruthless” military commander with a history of indiscriminate bombing and little regard for civilian casualties, according to experts.
The British Defence Ministry said the General's career “has been dogged with allegations of corruption and brutality."
Some say his appointment on Saturday is part of the reason why the attacks in Ukraine on Monday were so brutal.
At least 10 people have died, but the true toll is believed to be higher, in the horrific attacks which were some of the worst in the seven months since the war began.
In televised remarks, Russian President Putin said Moscow had launched long-range missile attacks against Ukraine's energy, military and communications infrastructure on Monday in retaliation for an attack on the bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula over the weekend.
Mr Surovikin has previously been found guilty of stealing and selling weapons and was also sentenced to prison but then let off following allegations that he was framed.
The general, born in 1966 in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, has twice been in jail after soldiers under his command killed three demonstrators in Moscow during the August 1991 coup that preceded the end of the Soviet Union and its repression.
He was later released without trial. In 1995, he received a sentence – later overturned – for the illegal arms trade.
Commanding troops in Chechnya say he was remembered for stating his intent to kill three insurgents for each of his soldiers who they killed
“During his service in the Urals region Surovikin was involved in numerous scandals,” said a 2012 report in Nova Region.
He also commanded Putin’s troops in Syria culminating in his award of the Kremlin’s highest medal - Hero of Russia.
The general was accused of overseeing a brutal bombardment that destroyed much of the city of Aleppo in Syria and a report by Human Rights Watch listed him as one of the commanders “who may bear command responsibility for violations” during the 2019-2020 offensive in Syria’s Idlib.
Surovikin’s command in Syria also coincided with the Khan Sheikhoun Sarin nerve agent attack, which killed 90 civilians and injured over 500 people.
The appointment on Saturday came after two Russian senior military commanders were sacked as Kyiv has made impressive gains in clawing back territories lost to Russia in the northeast and south of Ukraine.
“Surovikin knows how to fight with bombers and missiles — that’s what he does,” Gen. Kyrylo O. Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, said in June.
But one expert said the appointment will not solve the Russian army's problems.
Frederick B. Hodges, a former top U.S. Army commander in Europe, told the New York Times: “All the problems are institutional, deeply rooted flaws — corruption, lack of readiness.”
