WASHINGTON (AP) – A U.S. official said Sunday that Russia has assigned a new commander to the war in Ukraine following the ensuing defeat of the attack.
Russia has accused General Alexander Dvornikov, 60, of being one of Russia’s most senior military officers and, according to U.S. officials, a general of brutally targeting civilians in Syria and other theaters of war. The senior officers who appointed the new commander were not allowed to speak and speak on condition of anonymity.
But White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that “the appointment of a general will not erase the fact that Russia has already suffered a strategic setback in Ukraine.”
“This general will be another perpetrator of crimes and atrocities against the Ukrainian civilian population,” Sullivan said. He told CNN “State of the Union”. “And the United States, as I said, is determined to do everything possible to support the Ukrainians, because they are resilient and resistant to the forces they command.”
Ukraine will never follow Russia.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is responding to reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed a new general to lead the war in Ukraine as his military strategies change. #CNNSOTU @CNNSotu pic.twitter.com/wwmLiLSwLs
– CNN (@CNN) April 10, 2022
The decision to establish leadership on the new battlefield came after Russia prepared for a broader and more focused push to expand Russia’s control over the Donbas and a failed attempt to seize the capital Kiev.
Dvornikov gained prominence during his leadership of a group of Russian forces in Syria, where Moscow has conducted a military campaign since 2015 to unite President Bashar al-Assad’s regime during the devastating civil war. .
Dvornikov was a career military officer and continued to be promoted to the rank of platoon commander since 1982. He fought during World War II in Chechnya and held several senior positions before leading Russian troops in Syria in 2015.
In 2016, Putin awarded Dvornikov the Hero of Russia Medal, one of the highest awards in the country. Dvornikov has been commander of the Southern Military District since 2016.
Sullivan described the general as a record of atrocities against civilians in Syria, saying “more can be expected from this theater”. But he stressed that the US strategy remains the same with the military and logistical support that Ukraine needs.
Source: Huffpost
