Another rotation in the command staff of the russian invasion forces in the war against Ukraine took place: Sergei Surovikin, who was appointed as the chief commander of the so-called "Special Military Operation" in early October 2022, was dismissed from the post. This decision comes from the russian minister of defense Sergei Shoigu and officially announced by his press service.
Surovikinwas replaced by his immediate superior, russian army's Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. As a reminder, he managed to stay alive during a visit to the frontline position near the city of Izium last spring. At that time, Ukrainian forces launched a successful strike on a russian command post, but Gerasimov himself left the place before it happened.
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Back to Surovikin, he was demoted to the position of Gerasimov's deputy. Among the "special military operation" deputies, there are also commander of the ground forces Oleg Salyukov and Deputy Chief of the General Staff Alexey Kim. That is, it seems that Surovikin remained among the deputies only because there is still a position left for him which is the commander of the so-called "russian aerospace forces".
On the part of Defense Express, we must admit that this decision comes rather unexpectedly, there were no preliminary "gossips" or "insider talks" that usually accompany such loud personnel changes. The official reasons are vague and allegedly related to "expanding the scale of tasks... the need to organize closer cooperation between types and branches of the military", as well as "increasing the quality of supplies and management efficiency".
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