Vladimir Putin probably replaced the commander of the invading forces in Ukraine.

According to the New York Times, for the past two weeks there were signs of activity from General Alexander Dvornikov. This made the US government doubt whether Dvornikov remains in charge of the war effort of Russians in Ukraine.

On May 26, the Conflict Intelligence Team announced that, according to their sources, Gennady Zhidko had become the new commander of the Russian Armed Forces in Donbas.

Colonel-General Gennady Zhidko is the Deputy Minister of Defense for Military and Political Affairs and former Commander of the Eastern Military District.

Like Dvornikov (nicknamed the “Syrian butcher”), Zhidko took part in the Russian intervention in Syria, where he served as chief of staff of the invading contingent.

Neither the NYT nor the CIT hypothesize about the cause for this rotation. It is unclear whether such a step is a regular rotation or a manifestation of dissatisfaction with the “battle for Donbas”.

As previously reported, Putin reorganized his command of the invading forces in Ukraine in April after losing the battle for Kyiv. According to the Kremlin, Dvornikov was supposed to improve the coordination of the Russian Armed Forces in the war and demonstrate success in the battle for Donbas before the iconic date of May 9 for the Russians.