Another change of command in the Russian army in Ukraine: the chief of staff of the army, General Valery Gerasimov, was appointed commander of the Russian forces in Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defense announced Gerasimov’s appointment and added that General Sergey Sorobikin, the current commander who will be replaced, will be Gerasimov’s deputy, and two other generals Oleg Slyukov and Alexei Kim will command next to him.
The Ministry of Defense explained that “the level of the military leadership of the ‘Special Military Operation’ was raised due to the expansion of the scope of the tasks and the need to improve cooperation between the various units.”
The MOSCOW TIMES reports that the outgoing commander Sorobikin was appointed to carry out a strategic turnaround on the front through an operation to launch waves of missiles and as UAVs to attack infrastructure in Ukraine. However, a month after taking office, the Russian army withdrew from the city of Kherson.
The front stabilized without the advance of the troops, with the two armies conducting bloody battles in the areas of the cities of Hamut and Solder. The Wagner force claimed yesterday to control the city of Hamot, but the Kremlin was cautious in declaring victory.
Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces
At the same time as Gerasimov’s appointment, Putin decided to appoint Colonel General Alexander Lapin to the position of Chief of Staff of the Russian Army’s Ground Forces, despite severe criticism leveled at him by hawks in the government and the army for his performance in the campaign in Ukraine.
General Lapin previously commanded the central command of the Russian army on the Ukrainian front and was criticized after his forces were forced to withdraw from the city of Leyman in the east of the country, an important logistics center.
President Zelensky said in his video broadcast yesterday that the cities of Hamot and Solder are holding out despite much destruction and casualties. The Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian Army, General Valery Zlozhny, again warned against sending large Russian military forces from Russia to the Ukrainian front, and that the Russians would probably try to occupy the capital, Kyiv.