Appointed by Vladimir Putin to lead the troops on the ground, this 55-year-old soldier has falsified the image of a brutal man in other theaters of intervention, from Chechnya to Syria. As soon as he was promoted, on 8 October, commander of the Russian forces in Ukraine, this native of Novosibirsk, in western Siberia, has implemented, since 10 October, a policy of terror by launching a shower of missiles throughout the Ukrainian territory. “From a strictly military point of view it is useless, but the operation sends the message “The front, now, is all Ukrainian” “notes Jean-Christophe Noël, associate researcher at the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI) security studies center. Sourovichina has no mood. “
