By appointing General Valery Gerasimov as the direct operational commander of the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is demonstrating his conviction that the goals of the invasion can be achieved without new leadership, so he returned to a confidant who unconditionally follows his orders, writes the American edition of the Washington Post, citing Western.

The publication does not exclude that Gerasimov was returned in order to blame him for further failures of Russia on the battlefield.. At the same time, some experts suggest that Gerasimov and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu are trying to restore control of the military command over irregular formations led by the head of the Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

“Shoigu and Gerasimov downgraded Surovikin and put the incompetent Gerasimov in charge of the operation in Ukraine, downgrading their competent senior commander. This is a story that has everything: internal squabbles, power struggles, jealousy, ”Dara Massicot, chief political researcher at the RAND Corp think tank, commented on the reshuffle..

At the same time, WP notes that such a sudden reshuffle, undoubtedly approved by Putin himself, made the experienced comments on the Kremlin's actions ponder.. In particular, in Russia, many "

“Prigozhin and Kadyrov were supporters of Surovikin, but harshly criticized other Russian military commanders, including Colonel General Alexander Lapin, who was promoted on Wednesday during the reshuffle,” the newspaper writes and recalls that Lapin was removed from a leadership position during.

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Russian security analyst and expert Mark Galeotti believes Surovikin's downgrade points to Putin's tendency to associate people with problems..

“He believes that only a new person is to blame for the defeat. He thinks it was Surovikin's gambit and now he's going to have to suffer for it,"

In his opinion, the appointment of Gerasimov will create "

Valery Gerasimov was appointed by Putin as Chief of the Russian General Staff in 2012 and has been closely linked to Hybrid War Russia, including during its 2014 invasion and illegal annexation of Crimea.

At the same time, the reshuffling of the Russian military has highlighted growing divisions in command, with analysts saying Surovikin's demotion was a show of disdain for Kadyrov and Prigozhin, whose troops fought the months-long assault on Bakhmut..

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Washington-based information warfare expert Molly McCue also notes that the new appointments are intended to restore the balance of power..

“Putin loves to knock the ground out from under the feet of the one who is now at the pinnacle of power. It's a signal that this internal power struggle that everyone has microanalyzed and that we're focusing on so much is under control,” she says..

At the same time, the change of command indicates preparations for new offensive actions: "

The WP summarizes that the leadership changes, regardless of their true purpose, underline that Putin never expected to find himself in such a catastrophic situation.. He has now led an invasion for almost a year, which, according to some Russian commentators, should have ended successfully in a few days with the capture of Kyiv, but the Russian army suffered serious losses, and Putin had to announce mobilization.

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On the eve it became known that the Russian military leadership appointed Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation, as the new commander of the Joint Group of Forces fighting against Ukraine. At the same time, the previous leader, General Sergei Surovikin, was reduced - now he will be deputy.

Recall that the Wagner PIK militants publicly scolded Valery Gerasimov for lack of ammunition.