In recent weeks, Russia has sacked a number of top commanders who are believed to have performed poorly in the initial stages of the invasion of Ukraine.. In particular, among the suspended lieutenant-general Sergey Kisel, who commanded the elite 1st Guards Tank Army, which could not capture Kharkov, British intelligence notes in the morning report..
The commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Igor Osipov, was also likely removed after the sinking of the Moskva cruiser in April..
As for Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation, he probably remains in office, but it is not clear whether President Putin trusts him.
“The culture of harboring and scapegoats is probably prevalent in the Russian military and security system. Many officials involved in the invasion of Ukraine are likely to become increasingly distracted by attempts to avoid personal responsibility for Russia's operational failures..
This is likely to put additional strain on Russia's centralized command and control model as officers increasingly delegate key decisions to their superiors..
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Latest Defense Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 19 May 2022Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t. co/qqKi2Uagzx? #StandWithUkraine? pic. twitter. com/1JYJHtSWRT.
— Ministry of Defense? (@DefenceHQ) May 19, 2022.
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As The Guardians writes, citing Western military sources, Vladimir Putin is personally involved in the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine, since he makes operational and tactical decisions “at the level of a brigadier or colonel.”.
The Russian military, to a much greater extent than the Western ones, operate during hostilities in a vertical “top-down” pattern.. With instructions usually sent to generals in the field. But the invasion of Ukraine forced Moscow to change the usual pattern and the Kremlin began to send generals closer to the front line, where, according to the Ukrainian armed forces, up to 12 such high-ranking officials were killed..