(Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin's defence minister has appointed Russia's most senior general, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, 67, t.
By putting Gerasimov in direct command, Putin can send a signal to the West about his determination to win the war, reinforce the standing of the army relative to Prigozhin and Kadyrov's militias and, not least, make his top general more accountable for the day-to-day conduct of the invasion. "Now the General Staff is directly and uncompromisingly responsible for absolutely everything," said Semyon Pegov, a Russian military blogger who uses the name Wargonzo.
The quality of combat shakedown sessions was checked. The readiness of the army units to carry out missions for the sake of ensuring the military security of the Union State of Belarus and Russia was evaluated.