General Gerasimov: Who is the new commander of the Russian army – What Putin wants by putting him on the battlefield

by

Gerasimov was appointed chief of the general staff and deputy defense minister by Putin on November 9, 2012, three days after long-time Putin ally Sergei Shoigu became defense minister.

Russian President Vladimir Defense Minister Putin appointed the highest-ranking general, the chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov67, to lead the war in Ukraine, making the most dramatic of a series of changes to the military command since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February.

The judges

Many of the nationalist bloggers who, with the permission of the Kremlin, criticize the conduct of the war, have blamed Gerasimov for the fact that a superpower’s army – supposedly modernized and rearmed at great cost over the past 15 years – failed so appreciably to subdue the its much smaller neighbor.

Critics in Ukraine, the West and even inside Russia have called the Russian armed forces simplistic, poorly prepared and equipped, slow to react and fragmented by disparate and often distant command structures.

After the failure of an unplanned conscription campaign intended to turn the tide in Russia’s favor, rumors had circulated for months that Gerasimov, who had been largely out of the public eye, would be sidelined.

Both Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the military mercenary company Wagner, and Ramzhan Kadyrov, leader of the southern Russian republic of Chechnya, have openly criticized Gerasimov while flaunting battlefield successes for their own supposedly superior, semi-autonomous forces. .

Defense Department supporters say Russia often performs poorly at the start of wars and that many of the problems that have become apparent in supply, technology and command over the past 10 months have been or are being resolved.

What does this mean for the battlefield?

The defense ministry said the seniority of the commander in charge of the “special military operation” reflected its expansion in scale and the need to improve organization and command.

Gerasimov’s deputies will be General Sergei Surovikin, the former commander of the Russian army in Ukraine, who was appointed three months ago and was nicknamed “General Armageddon”, General Oleg Shalyukov and Deputy Chief of the General Staff Colonel Alexei Kim.

Igor Korochenko, a hard-line military expert who is given generous airtime on state television, said Putin made the decision because of Ukraine’s receipt of longer-range heavy weapons from the West and the prospect of soon receiving Western armored fighting vehicles and possibly tanks battle.

He said Gerasimov’s arrival raised the possibility that Russia would use nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine:

“The appointment of Gerasimov means that all means of destruction in the arsenals of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation – without exception – can be used.”

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu pledged on Tuesday to build a deeper arsenal, boost aviation technology to better evade air defenses and improve production of unmanned aircraft.

What is Putin trying to do with Gerasimov’s placement?

By placing Gerasimov in direct command Putin can send a message to the West about his determination to win the war, boost the military’s prestige vis-à-vis Prigozhin and Kadyrov’s militias, and, not least, make his top general most accountable for the day-to-day conduct of the invasion.

“Now the General Staff is directly and uncompromisingly responsible for absolutely everything,” says Semyon Pegov, a Russian military blogger who goes by the name Wargonzo.

“The ‘Armageddon general’ is still at the center of decision-making, but in a much less vulnerable position.”

Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of research firm R.Politik, is not convinced that this change in military command will make much of a difference.

“Gerasimov took command of the military operation because of the serious failures of Surovikin,” he said.

“Putin Seeks Effective Tactics Amid ‘Creeping’ Defeat.”

“He tries to shuffle the cards and therefore gives opportunities to those he finds convincing. Today, Gerasimov proved convincing. Tomorrow it could be anyone else.”

Who is Gerasimov?

Gerasimov was appointed chief of the general staff and deputy defense minister by Putin on November 9, 2012, three days after long-time Putin ally Sergei Shoigu became defense minister.

Each man holds one of three nuclear briefcases capable of ordering a Russian nuclear strike.

Gerasimov was instrumental in Ukraine’s 2014 seizure of Crimea and Russia’s military support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s game-changing civil war.

The US State Department sanctioned him the day after the invasion of Ukraine, saying he was one of three senior Russians alongside Putin directly responsible for the war.

Nevertheless, Gerasimov sometimes speaks with US Army General Mark Miley, the chairman of the US Army Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Gerasimov was born on September 8, 1955 in Kazan and rose through the ranks after graduating from an armored school in 1977.

RES-EMP

You May Also Like

Recommended for you