Russia’s top general in Ukraine to be sacked

Russian President Vladimir Putin has thrown his top general out of power amid the slow progress in the Donbas region according to the Telegraph report on Saturday.

The Telegraph cited a military source of the U.K. that Putin was unsatisfied with Gen. Alexander Dvornikov who was close to him for taking too long to capture the Donbas, and thus held him accountable for it.

Dr. Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said, “Putin ordered the general to capture Severodonetsk, a major city in Donbas by June 10, but he failed because he had stuck to his unique military tactics.” On Saturday, Russia announced that the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk was now fully occupied by Russian forces.

Gen. Alexander Dvornikov was appointed as the top General on April 10, when Russian forces failed to take the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and retreated. He played a prominent role in the Syrian war, where forces under his command were responsible for widespread abuses against the civilian population, earning the name, ‘Butcher of Aleppo’ .


chaewani@donga.com