Russia has named a new commander for its war in Ukraine after suffering severe setbacks in an attempted invasion, a US official said on Sunday.
Russia appointed Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, 60, one of Russia’s most experienced military officers and, according to US officials, a commander with a reputation for brutality against civilians in Syria and other theaters of war.
The official who gave the information asked not to be identified as he was not authorized to give that information publicly.
But White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said “no appointment of a general can hide the fact that Russia has already suffered a strategic failure in Ukraine.”
“This general will only be another responsible for crimes and brutality against the civilians of Ukraine,” Sullivan said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“And the United States, as I have said before, is determined to do everything possible to help the Ukrainian people resist him and the forces he commands,” Sullivan added.
The decision to appoint a new commander comes as Russia sharpens its military might with a view to launching an offensive in the eastern region of Ukraine, known as Donbas.
Dvornikov rose to prominence commanding Russian forces in Syria, where Russia has waged an offensive since 2015 to keep President Bashar Assad in power amid a devastating civil war.
Dvornikov is a career military man who has risen through the armed ranks, starting as a platoon commander in 1982. He fought in the second Chechen war and held various military posts before being commissioned by Russian forces in Syria in 2015.
In 2016, Putin awarded Dvornikov the Hero of Russia medal, one of the country’s highest honors. Dvornikov has been commander of the Southern Military District since 2016.
Sullivan said the general is notorious for acts of brutality committed against the civilian population of Syria and “there is sure to be more of that in this theater of war.” He however insisted that the US strategy will be the same, to give the Ukrainian forces all the military and logistical help they need.