So what impact will this change of military command have on the battlefield? And what to expect in the coming days and weeks? General Dvornikov was the man Putin turned to when the Syrian regime was on the verge of collapse in 2015. Picture: General Dvornikov (R) with Putin and Navy Chief Nikolai Yevmenov Russia’s military intervention, led by General Dvornikov, effectively overturned the momentum in favor of President Bashar al-Assad and kept Russia’s main ally in the Middle East. Image: General Dvornikov was introduced to the Syrian conflict by Putin at a time of near defeat by Assad’s forces The Russian army pounded Syrian opposition fighters as well as the so-called “caliphate” of the Islamic State. But it had huge costs for citizens’ lives and infrastructure. General Dvornikov was the military architect behind the Battle of Aleppo. The urban wilderness left behind is his own construction. “Continuous effect of fire, day and night” The 60-year-old general explained his military doctrine of the “continuous effect of fire, day and night” in an article for a Russian military magazine in 2018. “One of the key events of the Syrian war was the operation to liberate Aleppo,” wrote General Dvornikov. “It was offensive and defensive in nature. For the purpose of continuously firing at the enemy, the offensive tactics were used in three shifts day and night, without a break. A defensive team was formed along the outer ring.” Image: Russian army pounded Syrian opposition fighters “The aircraft attacked targets and groups of terrorist formations only along the outer ring, while missile troops and artillery, regular fire force as part of the RUK attacked important targets inside the city and only after confirmation from three or more sources,” he wrote. . General Dvornikov was introduced to the Syrian conflict by Putin at a time of near-defeat by Assad’s forces. He pondered what he found. “By the summer of 2015, the Syrian armed forces were completely depleted, the staff was heartbroken, the corps of officers was humiliated and the leadership of the armed forces showed extremely low efficiency in administration and control.” Ironically, the same could be said now for Russian military units in Ukraine after a series of months of fighting. Morale is low. The units lack equipment. Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 3:30 Why Putin wants Mariupol Consolidation of the struggle The Russian tactic in Ukraine so far has been to fight on many fronts, without a single command structure. It has been disastrous, with Putin’s spokesman admitting to Sky News that “we have significant troop losses and it is a huge tragedy for us.” Image: Service members of the pro-Russian troops in Mariupol Here again, General Dvornikov’s 2018 article is instructive: “With the launch of the first stabilization operations, the management body required serious adjustments,” he wrote. “Or modern military science shows flexibility, the ability to adapt to a specific situation, and the ability to achieve geopolitical and strategic goals without the widespread use of military force – with measures of a non-military nature, with the use of integrated troop groups.” To this end, we now see Russia retreating from much of Ukraine, abandoning its extensive military power and focusing only on the Donbas in the Far East. Here, the area is more familiar (since the 2014 conflict) and the supply lines are much smaller. Follow the Daily Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker The information war The information war will also be crucial – “to shake the situation from within”. Effectively to subdue or destroy. “During the operation in Syria, as nowhere before, we were convinced of the practical importance of the confrontation,” he wrote. Image: Putin’s troops have ruthlessly attacked the southern port of Mariupol in recent weeks “Information resources have, in fact, become one of the most effective weapons. Their widespread use allows in a few days to shake the situation from within. “For example, during the operation to liberate Aleppo, informing the local population helped liberate entire neighborhoods without a fight, withdrawing more than 130,000 civilians.” Something else to watch out for: with a single savage front in the southeast, the most capable Ukrainian units from across the nation could be dragged to this corner of the country. The Russians will then seek to encircle them. Mariupol has already begun to reflect Aleppo even without General Dvornikov in command. The days to come look bleak.
