Moscow formalized on Saturday the appointment of Sergei Surovikin, who therefore becomes the new head for the “special operation” carried out in Ukraine.
An appointment that comes following the explosion that occurred on the bridge linking Crimea to Russia on Saturday.
Since last June, Surovikin, 55, has been commander of the armed forces in southern Ukraine, where he notably contributed to the capture of the city of Lyssytchansk.
He previously led the Main Directorate of Operations of the General Staff from 2008 to 2010, before becoming chief of the aerospace forces in 2017.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: Sergei Surovikin, renowned for his cruelty, now at the head of the Russian offensive
“He distinguished himself by brutality”
This soldier known for his brutality fought for the USSR army in Afghanistan in the 1980s and in Tajikistan the following decade.
He then joined the Russian army and fought in Chechnya in the 2000s. In 1991, he took part in the attempted putsch in Moscow for which he was sentenced to a prison term of a few months, before resuming his functions in the army.
From 2017, Surovikin "distinguished himself" by participating in the Russian intervention in Syria, "(where he was) illustrated by brutality and repeated violation of human rights, by bombardments of residential areas and of civil infrastructures", explains for Le Parisien Dimitri Minic, doctor in history of international relations and researcher at the Russia/NIS center of Ifri.
On Saturday, the appointment of this brutal soldier was made public unlike his predecessor.
“(It gives) satisfaction to the nationalist extreme right, which thinks that the power is too soft.
It is a question (for Moscow) of telling the army that it will be led to victory, ”said Jean de Gliniasty, research director at Iris (Institute of International and Strategic Relations).
Last Monday, strikes hit several Ukrainian towns, killing 19 people.