Putin's Penultimate Step
- 12.01.2023, 8:40
Replacing "General Armageddon" Surovikin with Gerasimov has several aspects.
The demotion of General Sergei Surovikin, who was in charge of the Russian occupation forces in Ukraine, has several aspects.
The incident was explained by a member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Oleksiy Goncharenko, on his YouTube channel.
"On the one hand, the West starts giving us modern, powerful tanks... And at the same time, as a response to new Western aid, Putin's move - changing the commander of the war against Ukraine, Surovikin to Gerasimov. This appointment has several aspects," the MP said.
Firstly, he said, the reshuffle indicates that the war is not going the way the Kremlin wants. The victorious cries about Soledar are intended to calm down the Russians, while the Russian authorities understand very well that things are bad and will get worse.
The second aspect is the infighting of the Kremlin elites. "Gerasimov and Shoigu are the Ministry of Defence, against which the FSB is fighting, including with the hands and mouths of Girkin-Strelkov and the duo of "Builder's Tea For Both", Kadyrov and Prigozhin. Surovikin was their protégé... And now, as you can see, Putin is pushing them aside," the Ukrainian MP said.
He is sure that Prigozhin and Kadyrov were "scarecrows". With their help, Putin was trying to prove to the world that it would be better to have him in power than these wild characters.
"The Moors have done their job, they are being pushed back for now... At the end, maybe these 'Moors' will kill Putin too. But for now he is pushing them back, bringing the Defense Ministry's into the arena. There is a real war going on, in which he needs at least a minimum result. Not to lose - this is the task Putin has set for himself and for Gerasimov," says Goncharenko.
It is important that Gerasimov, as the head of the Russian General Staff, is the most experienced military man in the country. With his help, Putin hopes to avoid a catastrophe. The deputy is convinced that this appointment is the dictator's penultimate step.
"The last one will be when he appoints himself as commander... And then there will be the finale. Putin is clearly following in the footsteps of Nicholas II... I think he will follow the path of Nicholas to the end: to the collapse of the Russian Federation and death in the basement. Historically, he is heading towards it," the MP stated.