Shoigu Appoints Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov Commander of NVO

On January 11, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu decided on new appointments to lead a special military operation. This is reported by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

“Army General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, has been appointed Commander of the Joint Group of Troops (Forces),” says in a departmental statement.

In this post, he replaced the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, General of the Army Sergei Surovikin, who has now become Gerasimov’s deputy. Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces General of the Army Oleg Salyukov and Deputy Chief of the General Staff Colonel-General Alexei Kim have also been appointed Gerasimov’s deputies, the Defense Ministry specified.

The defense department explained that the increase in the level of leadership of the SVO is associated with “expanding the scale of tasks solved in the course of its implementation.” They also noted that it is necessary to organize closer interaction between the troops and improve the quality of all types of support and the effectiveness of command and control of the Russian army.

Army General Sergei Surovikin was appointed commander of the Joint Group of Forces on October 8, 2022. This decision was made by Shoigu. December 31 Russian President Vladimir Putin handed over Surovikin Order of St. George of the third degree.

Russia’s special operation in Ukraine began on February 24, 2022. President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin called the protection of the inhabitants of Donbass, as well as the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, its goals. During the special operation, Russian troops took full control of the LPR, as well as most of the DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. Subsequently, these territories became part of Russia, and on October 19 martial law was introduced in the regions.