Valery Gerasimov, an unsmiling, grey-haired giant, stood waiting for Vladimir Putin outside the entrance to the Russian Southern Military Command Centre, about 60 miles from the eastern Ukraine border.
His clenched hands hung by his sides, like a schoolboy waiting for the headmaster. It was 19 October 2023. The Russian chief of the general staff, Mr Putin’s top soldier, had been appointed the operational commander of the invasion of Ukraine in January.
