The infamous Russian general Aleksandr Dvornikov (60) has a bloody scroll. Now he is taking over the invasion of Ukraine.
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The general, who has many years of military experience from eastern Ukraine, Chechnya and Syria, has been tasked with reversing the situation on the ground in Ukraine.
After more than seven weeks of brutal warfare, Russian President Vladimir Putin has failed to take control of the neighboring country.
What was supposed to be a lightning war has become a tough battle for several large, strategic Ukrainian cities.
Now Putin gets one boss on the ground.
– Dvornikov can make a difference, said head teacher in intelligence at the Armed Forces Staff College, Tom Røseth, to VG Tuesday.
According to experts, the reason why Russia’s progress in Ukraine has stagnated is partly due to fragmented coordination of the military forces.
Dvornikov’s appointment as commander of the war symbolizes Russia’s attempt to centralize command on the ground, according to British intelligence.
– Nothing stops him
Dvornikov is known as “one of the really hard-hitting of his generation”, says Russia expert Mark Galeotti at the British think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) to Washington Post.
The next step in Russia’s warfare expected to occur in eastern Ukraine. Dvornikov has been commander-in-chief there since 2016.
–Ukrainian Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko looks gloomily at Dvornikov’s selection.
– Nothing stops him, he says Al Jazeera.
Dvornikov, referred to as an “old-fashioned” general and a “blood nationalist”has risen steadily in the system since he began as troop commander in 1982.
The 60-year-old’s career spans bloody chapters of Russian military history.
“The Butcher of Syria”
He participated in the storming of Grozny in Chechnya in 1999-2000.
The brutality of the offensive here is said to have taken with him when he led Russia’s war in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad in 2015-2016.
The job he did here gave him the nickname “The Butcher of Syria”.
Within ten months, Russian forces smashed Syrian markets, mosques, schools and hospitals. The human rights organization Human Rights Watch has condemned the destruction as Russian-Syrian war crimes.
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Russia’s efforts led, among other things, to the fall of Syria’s second largest city, Aleppo. Tens of thousands of Syrians died in the offensive, as often mentioned as a “turning point” in the Syrian war in Assad’s favor.
– [Dvornikov] did not care what he killed, says former US Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor to CNN after it became known that the Russian general would take over the war in Ukraine.
As a thank you for his efforts in Syria, Dvornikov received Russian hero status in 2016.
–– Represents the norm of Russian warfare
He will have jobs in the Wagner group, Putin’s secret shadow soldierswhich has also been active in Syria, according to Washington Post.
So what does it mean for Ukrainians that Dvornikov takes over the war in Ukraine?
Lieutenant Colonel and section leader at the War School, Palle Ydstebø, believes that one should be careful not to overemphasize Dvornikov’s record.
– He was notorious in Syria, but this is more due to the fact that it was he who was in Syria, not him as a person, Ydstebø says to VG on the phone.
– He is not unique, he represents the norm for Russian warfare.
–Russian warfare is characterized by its brutality, according to a number of military analysts.
The destruction of civilian targets in Syria was a result of Russian targets for the war and the country’s military culture, according to Ydstebø – not that they had a particularly bloodthirsty general at the top.
– Can Dvornikov turn the war in Russia’s favor?
– Maybe, says the lieutenant colonel.
– It depends on the Ukrainian resistance in the future, not least what kind of military assistance they receive from the West. At least they can achieve a more uniform implementation on the part of Russia.
VG’s reporters in Ukraine with the latest news here:
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