The war in Europe: Against the background of the failures of the Russian army on the battlefield in Ukraine, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putinappointed this week the Sergey Sorobikin, as the new commander of the united Russian forces in Ukraine. In the meantime, only two days after the appointment, Sorobikin initiated a series of missile attacks against civilian targets throughout Ukraine, including Limor institutions and playgrounds. A former official in the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that “I am not surprised by what happened in Kiev, Sorobikin is a cruel person who does not consider human life, he has Ukrainian blood on his hands.”
Sorobikin’s brutal name was already associated with the events that took place in 1991 in the Soviet Union, when he led a tank squad that broke through roadblocks set up by pro-democracy demonstrators during the coup attempt. His brutal reputation was also linked to an incident in 2004, when Russian media reported that a senior officer who served under him committed suicide after receiving a harsh rebuke from him. Since then, his colleagues have nicknamed him “General Armageddon” or “Doomsday General”, because of his unorthodox war strategy.
At the same time, military experts in the West estimate that Sarobikin’s main challenge in Ukraine will be to solve the structural problems in the Russian army, which is fighting fierce Ukrainian attacks. A former lieutenant-rank officer in the Russian Air Force, who served alongside Sorobikin until 2020, said that “the general is one of the few people in the army who knew how to supervise and organize the various branches. He is very tough, but he is also a talented leader. However, he will not be able to solve all The problems that the Russian army suffers from, such as a lack of equipment.”
The appointment of Sorobikin has somewhat reduced the public anger in the Russian civil union, against the background of the country’s military failures in Ukraine. Since Sorobikin’s stay in Syria, the officer said, “he has developed a good working relationship with Wagner’s team. Many leaders have welcomed his appointment, including the president of the Chechen Republic.”
As you may recall, last Saturday, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that “Military General Sergey Sorobykin has been appointed commander of the Union of Military Forces in Southern Ukraine.” The 55-year-old Sorobikin previously participated in the civil war in Tajikistan during the 1990s, in the second Chechen war and in the entry of Russian forces into Syria in 2015.