Putin appoints 'ruthless' general to lead war against Ukraine

 Washington Examiner:

A ruthless Russian commander known as "General Armageddon" has been appointed head of the Russian Army in Ukraine as Moscow looks to reverse a series of defeats on the battlefield.

Sergei Surovikin, 56, was likely behind Monday's massive missile strikes, the largest since the beginning of the war, which targeted critical infrastructure in cities across Ukraine. The feared general previously won respect commanding Russian troops in Tajikistan, Chechnya, and Syria, according to Russian newspaper Kommersant, earning one of his many monikers: "Severe," a play on his name in Russian. He has since made a name for himself as a no-nonsense military commander, albeit one with disregard for the standard rules of engagement. His appointment is expected to garner a drastic shift in Russian tactics at a time when public outcry against the conduct of the war is at an all-time high.

Surovikin began his career fighting as part of a special forces unit in Afghanistan, according to a profile from RIA Novosti, a Russian state news outlet. He was the only Soviet officer to take action against anti-coup protesters during the hard-line coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991, resulting in the only three civilian deaths of the affair. He was temporarily arrested, but released on the personal orders of Russian President Boris Yeltsin under the rationale that he was simply following orders.

In a 2004 episode that has played a major part in his reputation, Suvorikin chastised a junior officer so severely in Yekaterinburg that the officer killed himself with his service pistol immediately afterward in front of his colleagues, according to a 2004 article from Kommersant. Just two months prior, he was accused of beating up one of his colleagues over his political opinions.

...

Putin underestimated Ukraine's will and ability to fight.  He now has a general he thinks will stiffen Russia's ability to fight in Ukraine.   He will still have to deal with the fact that most Ukrainians do not want to be Russians.

See, also:

Poll: Majority in US see relations with adversaries souring

And:

 Russian media confronts new problem: Reality

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