After its striking post-invasion setbacks, Russia has appointed a new Ukraine war commander, a US official said Sunday.
Russia turned to Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, 60, one of Russia's most experienced military officers and - according to US officials - a general with a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and other war theatres. Up to now, Russia had no central war commander on the ground.
What do we need to know about Dvornikov.
The decision to establish new battlefield leadership comes as Russia gears up for what is expected to be a large and more focused push to expand Russian control in Ukraine's east and south, including the Donbas, and follows a failed opening bid in the north to conquer Kyiv, the capital.
Dvornikov gained prominence while leading the Russian group of forces in Syria, where Moscow has waged a military campaign to shore up President Bashar Assad's regime during a devastating civil war.
Dvornikov is a career military officer and has steadily risen through the ranks after starting as a platoon commander in 1982.
He fought during the second war in Chechnya and took several top positions before being placed in charge of the Russian troops in Syria in 2015.
Under Dvornikov's command, Russian forces in Syria were known for crushing dissent in part by destroying cities, lobbing artillery and dropping what were often crudely made barrel bombs in sustained attacks that have displaced millions of Syrian civilians. The United Nations says the more than decade-long war has killed more than 350,000 people. Dvornikov was dubbed the 'butcher of Syria' as, under his command, Russian troops bombed Aleppo, which destroyed hospitals and water sources.
Harry Kazianis, US military analyst at the Center for National Interest, told the Telegraph, “My fear is that Dvornikov has orders that if he cannot take eastern Ukraine he will turn him into a giant Aleppo.”
In 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Dvornikov the Hero of Russia medal, one of the country's highest awards. Dvornikov has served as the commander of the Southern Military District since 2016.
White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said, no appointment of any general can erase the fact that Russia has already faced a strategic failure in Ukraine.
This general will just be another author of crimes and brutality against Ukrainian civilians, Sullivan said told PTI.
Lt. Col. Fares al-Bayoush, a Syrian army defector, said he believes the aim of naming Dvornikov as Ukraine war commander is to turn the war into rapid battles in several places at the same time.
This commander is a war criminal, al-Bayoush said.
Since Russia joined the war in Syria in September 2015, Assad's forces have taken control of most of the country after being on the verge of collapse.
From September 2015 to June 2016, when Russian troops were under the command of Dvornikov, the forces backed by allies of Assad's regime, heavily bombed civilian neighbourhoods in Aleppo, causing major casualties. The city fell to control of the Syrian government forces by December 2016. The Russian forces, in Ukraine too, followed a similar approach and targeted residential areas. The Russian army under Dvornikov's regime might commit more atrocities.
The last major Russian-backed offensive in Syria lasted several months, until March 2020, when a truce was reached between Russia and Turkey, which supported rival sides.
