“General Armageddon” leads Russian forces in Ukraine
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Russian Ministry of Defense appointed Colonel General Sergei Surovikin, known by his colleagues as “General Armageddon”, as Russia’s commander for the war against Ukraine.
Early in 2017, Surovikin was in Syria. He was famous for “defending” Moscow’s interests in Syria, and involved dozens of air and ground attacks on civilian objects and infrastructure, according to a 2020 Human Rights Watch report, which said Russian forces under his command struck Syrian “homes, schools, healthcare facilities, and markets – the places where people live, work, and study”.
However, the Russian Ministry of Defense repeatedly credited Surovikin with achieving critical gains in Syria, saying that Russian and Syrian forces “liberated over 98%” of the country under him.
On October 10, just two days after being appointed as the first overall commander for the war in Ukraine, Surovikin brought his violent Syria playbook closer to home, with a flurry of rocket attacks against civilian targets across Ukraine, which included a major road junction next to a university and a children’s playground in a park, reported.
The Guardian quoted a former defense ministry official who has worked with Surovikin, as saying, “I am not surprised to see what happened this morning in Kyiv. Surovikin is absolutely ruthless, with little regard for human life. I am afraid his hands will be completely covered in Ukrainian blood.”
Pro-Kremlin media outlets lionized him as “General Armageddon”, for his ability to think outside the box and act tough,” the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper wrote in a June profile.
Such a merciless bombing represents a style of warfare similar to that for which Russian generals became infamous during the 2015 incursion into Syria, when Moscow sent thousands of troops to prop up the government of Bashar al-Assad. The aerial bombardments left Syrians reeling and caused widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure. Some Ukrainians are fearful they will now suffer the same fate, The Washington Post said.
In recognition, Putin awarded Surovikin the Hero of the Russian Federation medal, the country’s highest honor.
In Ukraine, Surovikin is trying to achieve “quick results” in order to appease Russian President Vladimir Putin.