The Russian Commander Nicknamed 'Armageddon' Now Overseeing Ukraine Assault

The man appointed by Vladimir Putin to be overall commander of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has a fearsome reputation for brutality stretching back decades.

Air Force General Sergey Surovikin's appointment follows the firing of two Russian senior military commanders as Kyiv continues to recapture territories in the north-east and south of Ukraine.

However, one military expert told Newsweek that Surovikin's appointment is not likely to make a difference to Putin's war effort because "all he can do is order people to die."

The 56-year-old from the Siberian city of Novosibirsk commanded the Eastern Military District between 2013 and 2017. He also commanded the Group of Forces in Syria during the Russian military intervention in support of Bashar al-Assad.

A 2019 report by U.S. defense policy think tank the Jamestown Foundation said that Surovikin had "a reputation for total ruthlessness" and that his readiness "to vigorously execute any orders trounced any potential questions about his checkered curriculum vitae."

It cited as evidence how he was jailed for six months after soldiers under his command killed three demonstrators in Moscow during the August 1991 coup that preceded the end of the Soviet Union. Four years later, he received a sentence that was later overturned, for illegal arms trading.

In 2004, when commander of the 34th motor-rifle division, Surovikin was accused of physically assaulting subordinate officers. A colonel serving under him killed himself after being reprimanded by Surovikin.

The following year, while commander of the 42nd mechanized (motor-rifle) division in Chechnya, Surovikin reportedly said he would "kill three Chechens for every one of his soldiers killed."

In Syria, he was accused of overseeing a bombardment that destroyed much of the city of Aleppo. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in 2020 he was one of the commanders "who may bear command responsibility for violations" during the 2019-2020 offensive in Syria's Idlib.

A barrage of air and ground attacks in Syria saw forces under his command hit "homes, schools, healthcare facilities, and markets," according to HRW, with Surovikin later saying "we were defending Russia."

His colleagues have described him as "General Armageddon" and two days after his appointment, cities across Ukraine were hit by rocket attacks against civilian targets which included a road junction by a university and a children's playground in a park.

Founder of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has been calling for a tougher response to Ukraine's counteroffensive called Surovikin "the most competent commander in the Russian army," according to Live 24.

Gleb Irisov, a former air force lieutenant who worked with Surovikin up to 2020, told The Guardian that Surovikin was "very cruel but also a competent commander" who knew how to "oversee and streamline different army branches."

"But he won't be able to solve all the problems," Irisov added, as Russia "is short on weapons and manpower."

Glen Grant, a senior defense expert at the Baltic Security Foundation think tank who advised Ukraine on its military reform does not believe that Surovikin can turn around Putin's war effort.

"He has got to where he is in the same way as the other senior officers—by corruption, greasing palms and being loyal, so he is no different from any of the others," he told Newsweek. "He will try to be brutal but he can't make a difference to the soldiering, all he can do is order people to die."

"He was in charge of the air force at the beginning of the war but he didn't actually do anything. They were a miserable failure. I don't see that suddenly he is going to become a super general because to do anything, you would have to lead and he is not a leader, he is a pugilist."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's defense ministry for comment.