Russia replaces military commander in Ukraine again — after just 3 months
Russia replaces milirary commandeer in ukraine after just 3 months
Ukraine https://www.cbsnews.com/ukraine-crisis/
Russia has again replaced its military commander in Ukraine, putting army chief Valery Gerasimov in charge of its forces in the conflict, the defense ministry said Wednesday.
“Army General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, has been appointed Commander of the Joint Grouping of Troops (Forces),” the ministry said.
Sergei Surovikin, the commander of Russia’s forces in Ukraine for the past three months, will become Gerasimov’s deputy, the ministry said. Surovikin, lionized by Russia’s pro-Kremlin press as “General Armageddon,” had previously been the commander of Russia’s Air Force.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said Wednesday that Ukraine will be able to win the war in 2023 if it receives more Western weapons, particularly long-range missiles and heavy tanks.
Otherwise, the war will grind on “for decades,” Podolyak told AFP, pointing out that the “bloodiest” fighting was currently taking place in eastern Ukraine in Bakhmut and Soledar.
“Only missiles with a range of more than 100 kilometers will allow us to significantly accelerate the de-occupation of our territories,” he told AFP in an interview.
The United States last year supplied Ukraine with missile systems with a range of around 80 kilometers that were credited with turning the tide of the conflict in Kyiv’s favor on several fronts.
When HIMARS (an acronym which stands for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) showed up in Ukraine, it changed the face of battle.
“This capability has given the Ukrainians the potential to completely change the momentum and the direction of this war,” retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, told CBS News.
He said HIMARS, which fires a 200-pound warhead up to 50 miles and hits within 10 feet of its intended target, has virtually eliminated Russia’s numerical advantage.
