“This is so bad”

General Alexander Dvornikov, 60, recently named Vladimir Putin, who led the military operation in Ukraine, has been called the “Syrian butcher” after coordinating bombings on the country’s second-largest city, hospitals, schools and other civilian targets.

OK Defender, In Syria, Dvornikov quickly set up an air base near the northwest coast, from where airstrikes destroyed cities and villages in Idlib province. The fall of the second Syrian city of Aleppo was largely due to Russian airstrikes carried out from the Hemim base.

Duvornikov is described as an “old-school” general, trained in Soviet military principles, who sees the destruction of civilian targets as a means of gaining an advantage on the battlefield.

An industrial army officer, he fought during the Second Chechen War and held several high positions before being assigned to lead Russian troops in Syria.

“The appointment of this new general signifies that Vladimir Putin’s conflict will continue for months, if not years,” retired Admiral James Stavridis told NBC Nightly News.

Stavridis warned that the visit of General Dornikov was an attempt to break the sentiment of the Ukrainian people. Sky News.

“The guerrillas were called by Vladimir Putin to destroy cities like Aleppo in Syria,” he said. “He has used the tools of terrorism throughout this period, including Syrian forces, torture centers, systematic rapes and neurotoxic agents. He is the worst of the worst.”

In 2016, Russian Defense Minister Vedomosti was quoted by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying that General Dvornikov was overseeing the Russian air campaign in Syria, which has carried out more than 9,000 bombings.

Russian warplanes bombed rebel-held cities such as Aleppo and Holmes, killing dozens of civilians and changing the course of the war in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In October 2016, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Jait Rat al-Hussein described Aleppo as “a massacre” and “a horrible place full of pain and fear, with the lifeless bodies of small children trapped in crowded streets.” And deliberate bombing of pregnant women.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine so far has seen “basically three field commanders” competing with each other, Mark Calioti, a senior associate researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, told NBC.

The fragmentary step “reflects the fact that this war was not actually started by the generals, but by spies,” he added: “Putin and some of his former allies in the KGB’s close-up have micromanaged the process. It is now acknowledged that it does not work. It’s time to dump her and move on. “

General Dornikov’s promotion is part of a broader review of Russia’s strategy to stop fighting on three fronts, instead focusing on “another offensive to capture the rest of the Donbass,” Kalyotti said. To achieve the goal “.

However, Dvornikov, who has served as commander of the southern military district since 2016, faces very different challenges in Ukraine, where the Russian air force does not control the skies and his ground forces are severely depleted, the Guardian notes.