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Musical Chairs in Moscow: The Epic Short Tenure of Russian General
In the span of little more than a day: Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the combined Russian Armed Forces and First Deputy Defence Minister replaces Sergey Surovikin (the Butcher of Syria) as the general in command of the "Special Operation" in Ukraine. Surovikin was appointed in October 2022. Surovikin now becomes one of Gerasimov's three deputies. Tass (but not the Kremlin) reports that Colonel-General Alexander Lapin, berated as incompetent by Putin last summer, has been reinstated as Chief of Staff for all Russian ground forces. Meanwhile the Kremlin Press Secretary says the public should rely on official announcements about the fighting in Soledar and Bakhmut and not upon "social" media (i.e. what Yevgeny Prigozhin says about his own Wagner Group!) What is the story line that makes sense of Russia's Military Musical Chairs?
Musical Chairs in Moscow: The Epic Short Tenure of Russian General
In the span of little more than a day: Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the combined Russian Armed Forces and First Deputy Defence Minister replaces Sergey Surovikin (the Butcher of Syria) as the general in command of the "Special Operation" in Ukraine. Surovikin was appointed in October 2022. Surovikin now becomes one of Gerasimov's three deputies. Tass (but not the Kremlin) reports that Colonel-General Alexander Lapin, berated as incompetent by Putin last summer, has been reinstated as Chief of Staff for all Russian ground forces. Meanwhile the Kremlin Press Secretary says the public should rely on official announcements about the fighting in Soledar and Bakhmut and not upon "social" media (i.e. what Yevgeny Prigozhin says about his own Wagner Group!) What is the story line that makes sense of Russia's Military Musical Chairs?