Who Is Sergei Surovikin, Russia's New Ukraine War Commander?

Russia has appointed a new commander to lead its war against Ukraine — someone who has been described by the British defense ministry as "brutal and corrupt."

Sergei Surovikin is a 55-year-old army general who also oversees Russia’s air force and led Russian forces in Syria in the past where he earned a threatening and ruthless reputation, according to The New York Times.

Surovikin’s new role now involves galvanizing Russian troops after their losses in the battlefield, including the lack of equipment and the liberation of a number of cities and towns of Ukraine from the hands of Moscow.

The appointment of Surovikin as war commander is seen to send a message as he has a reputation for cruelty and corruption, said Greg Yudin, the head of political philosophy at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences.

“It is highly symbolic that Sergei Surovikin, the only officer who ordered the shooting of revolutionaries in August 1991 and actually killed three people, is now in charge of this last-ditch effort to restore the Soviet Union,” Yudin said, as quoted by The Telegraph.

Four years after the 1991 incident, he was found guilty of stealing and selling weapons and was sentenced to prison but was later on freed after claims surfaced that he was framed.

Russian bloggers and online propagandists have accused Russian military commanders of incompetence but welcomed Surovikin’s appointment.

“Surovikin does not stand on ceremony with stupid commanders,” Rybar, a Russian military blogger, told his one million subscribers on Telegram.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been trying to restructure and improve his military commanders' lists since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, The Telegraph reported.

According to CNBC, Putin appointed Surovikin amid a growing number of failures even after the Russian leader ordered a partial mobilization triggered by Ukraine's series of stunning victories.