Putin's new commander speaks for the first time about the "tense" war situation: "The enemy is not giving up"

Created: 2022-10-18, 21:20

The new Russian commander Sergey Surovikin.

© Pavel Golovkin/AP/dpa

Russia has had a new commander in the Ukraine war for a few days.

Sergey Surovikin now describes the situation at the front as "tense".

Moscow – Russia's troops have a new commander: General Sergei Surovikin.

Now Putin's new strong man spoke for the first time about the situation in the Ukraine war, which is still called "special operations" in Russia.

"The situation in the area of ​​​​the military special operations can be described as tense," said Surovikin, who has been in charge of the operation for ten days, on the Russian state broadcaster Rossiya 24 on Tuesday: "The enemy is denying its attempts to attack the positions of Russian troops, not up."

Putin general: Russia is preparing to evacuate civilians from Kherson

The Russian army is currently preparing to evacuate civilians from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, Surovikin said.

The administration there, deployed by Russia, had recently requested this.

The Cherson region in southern Ukraine, which was annexed by Russia at the end of September, has been the target of a counter-offensive by the Ukrainian army for several weeks, which has been able to advance ever further.

Ukraine war: Russia's new commander, Sergei Surovikin

The hardliners have prevailed once again, in Moscow.

The new commander of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine, Surovikin, is considered more capable, but also one of the toughest and most ruthless generals in Russia.

After seven and a half months of war against the neighboring country with a meager record for Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, the 56-year-old from Novosibirsk should now fix it.

In Syria, under his leadership, most of the country had previously been reconquered for President Bashar al-Assad, who was loyal to Moscow.

The military, also known as "General Armageddon", was then immediately in his element.

Two days after his appointment, the Russian army fired rockets at large areas of Ukraine on Monday – even the center of the capital Kyiv was not spared.

A total of 20 people died and more than 100 were injured.