Russia promotes brutal ‘General Armageddon’ to top job as Ukraine war stalls

A commander with the chilling nickname “General Armageddon” has been promoted to lead the Ukraine war as Russia grows increasingly desperate.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine faces embarrassing setback after setback, a brutal new war commander with a chilling past has been appointed to the top job.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence recently announced Sergei Surovikin as the commander for operations in the invasion.

Nicknamed “General Armageddon”, Surovikin’s major promotion – which came within hours of the crippling attack on the key Crimea bridge, which linked the annexed region to Russia – has been widely seen as the Russian President’s latest tactic in the invasion.

General Sergei Surovikin now is in charge of the Russian campaign.

General Surovikin is the first person to be officially named by Russia as the commander of the entire military operation in Ukraine, and he has been involved in the invasion from the beginning, previously commanding troops around southern Ukraine.

In February, he was personally hit by European sanctions due to his close ties to Putin and his military influence.

And the 56-year-old war veteran boasts a chilling resume, having previously played a key role in Russia’s operations in Syria and earning himself the nickname “General Armageddon”.

Surovikin first served in Afghanistan in the 1980s and led a unit in the Second Chechen War ​in 2004, before his involvement in the devastating Syrian civil war.

According to a Human Rights Watch report published in 2020, Surovikin “may bear ​command responsibility” for a string of attacks against civilians “in violation of the laws of war​” in Idlib in Syria, which began in early 2019 and killed at least 1600 people.

“The (Syria-Russian) alliance launched dozens of air and ground attacks on civilian objects and infrastructure in violation of the laws of war, striking homes, schools, healthcare facilities, and markets – the places where people live, work, and study. They used cluster munitions, incendiary weapons, and improvised ‘barrel bombs’ in populated areas to deadly effect.," the organisation reports.

But while the attacks were condemned by the global community, Surovikin was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation over his performance.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion is stalling. Picture: Ramil Sitdikov/Sputnik/AFP

Putin loyalist and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov praised the General’s appointment on social media recently.

“I personally ​have know​n Sergei very well for almost 15 years. I can definitely say he is a real general and warrior, experienced, headstrong and foresighted commander who always takes patriotism, honour and respect above all,” he posted on social media.

“The united army group is now in safe hands.”

But experts and insiders have painted an opposite picture, with Russian history and culture professor Peter Waldron telling the BBC the General had earned a reputation as “a brutal, very tough and unpleasant individual”.

Prof Waldron also claimed his appointment indicated things weren't going well for Putin’s invasion.

“You don’t change your military commander unless things aren’t going to plan,” he said. “Changing the commander here may bring in a different ethos but whether it makes a difference to the capabilities is questionable.”

That sentiment was echoed by Mason Clark, a Russia expert at the Institute for the Study of War, who told CNN “an individual commander is not going to be able to change how tangled Russian command and control is at this point in the war, or the low morale of Russian forces”.

He added that Russia was running out of alternatives, and that “there isn’t a good Kremlin option if Surovikin doesn’t perform or if Putin decides that he is also not up to the task”.

“There aren’t many other senior Russian officers and it’s just going to lead to a further degradation of the Russian war effort,” he claimed.

MH17 war lord promoted

Igor Girkin, pictured in 2014, was involved in the downing of MH17. Picture: EPA/PHOTOMIG

Meanwhile, notorious Russian war lord Igor Girkin – wanted over the tragic downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down by a Russian missile over Ukraine in 2014 – has also been promoted to a frontline commander in the Ukraine war.

At the time, Girkin was the top commander of the Donetsk People’s Republic’s militia forces, and was charged over the tragedy in 2019, along with three other suspects.

The downing of MH17 claimed 298 lives, including 38 Australians.

Girkin’s cruelty in Donetsk was infamous, with the commander boasting about ordering the deaths of prisoners and looters, The Sun reports.