Russian Chief of Staff Valery
Gerasimov was appointed head of the joint grouping of forces engaged in the special military operation in Ukraine
.
This was announced by the Moscow Defense Ministry quoted by the Interfax agency.
Moscow decided to give Gerasimov the job due to the "expansion of the size of the tasks" and the need for "greater efficiency".
This was announced by the Ministry of Defence, cited by the Interfax agency.
Gerasimov's deputies will be, for the aerospace forces, general Sergei Surovikin, so far commander of operations, and for the army Oleg Salyukov.
Gerasimov's third deputy will be Alexey Kim.
Meanwhile the fighting on the ground continues.
The fight for control of Soledar and Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine is the "bloodiest" battle for Russian and Ukrainian forces since the invasion began
in February 2022, Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, said in a interview with AFP.
"Whatever is happening today in the direction of Bakhmut or Soledar, it is the bloodiest scenario of this war," the official said.
"A lot of blood, a lot of artillery duels, a lot of contact fighting, especially in Soledar today," Podoliak summed up, noting that it is currently the "hottest point of the war."
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar also spoke of "heavy fighting" going on in Soledar, stressing that there had been no turn in favor of Moscow on the city, in response to the claim of the Russian mercenary group Wagner to have taken control of small town in eastern Ukraine.
The Russians "tried to break through the Ukrainian defense" and "completely capture the city, but without success".
For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry said airborne troops from Moscow had surrounded Ukrainian forces in Soledar, and were now bombing them.
The Russians, the ministry specifies, have blocked the town to the north and south.
When asked about the military situation on the ground, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Russia was "in no hurry" to declare victory at Soledar.
"We are waiting for the official reports, but there is a positive dynamic in the evolution," he said as reported by RIA Novosti.
A Ukrainian soldier fighting in Soledar told CNN that the situation in the eastern Ukrainian city is "critical", and the death toll is now so high that "no one is counting the dead".
The soldier is part of the 46th air mobile brigade which is leading the fight in Kiev to keep Soledar, in the face of the harsh onslaught of Russian troops and Wagner mercenaries.
"The situation is critical. Difficult. We are holding out until the last minute," said the soldier, describing a dynamic battlefield, where buildings change hands every day and units cannot keep track of the increasing number of dead.
"Nobody is going to tell you how many dead and wounded there are. Because nobody knows for sure. Not a single person," he said.
"Positions are taken and resumed constantly.
What was our home today becomes the Wagner home the next day.
In Soledar nobody counts the dead,” he added.
The soldier said it was unclear until Tuesday evening how much of the city was held by the Russians: "No one can say for sure who holds what, because no one knows for sure. There's a huge gray area in the city that everyone they claim to control, but they are just empty slogans".
According to the soldier, Ukrainian military leaders will eventually give up the fight for Soledar.
"Everyone understands that the city will be abandoned. Everyone understands that," he said.
"I just want to understand what the point is (of fighting house to house). Why die, if we're going to leave him today or tomorrow anyway?"
