On Wednesday, Russia's defense ministry found itself on an unfamiliar side: like the Ukrainian military, it countered reports by Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Frederick Smith

Political correspondent for Russia and the CIS in Moscow.

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The mercenary leader had boasted about taking the small town of Soledar with only his "Wagner" force.

The Ministry of Defense reacted to the rival's new leadership in the domestic struggle in two ways.

An initial report said that fighting was still going on around Soledar - which was consistent with the information provided by the Ukrainian defenders - and that the (regular) armed forces were taking part in the fighting.

Prigozhin's second rebuke followed in the evening: Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu appointed Valeriy Gerasimov as the new commander of the armed forces involved in the Ukraine invasion.

This should improve the management of the "special operation", it said.

Gerasimov, who has headed the General Staff of the Armed Forces for more than a decade, was always involved in the invasion.

When the invasion was going even better for Moscow and Vladimir Putin did not want to tolerate any generals with him who could claim success, Gerasimov and Shoygu were occasionally seen reporting to the President.

Only in October was a commander of the invasion forces, Sergei Surovikin, officially introduced.

This probably happened because someone other than Putin was to be associated with "difficult decisions" (according to Surovikin) such as the withdrawal from Kherson.

It is doubtful that the large-scale attacks on Ukraine's energy supply, which Surovikin also stood for, will change: Putin wants to continue subjugating Ukraine;

resources are limited;

De-escalation is considered a weakness.

Surovikin also remains in the invasion command, but only as one of Gerasimov's three deputies.

Therefore, the personnel is seen as a rebuke for power-hungry actors like Prigozhin and the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

In the fall they had criticized the military leadership, namely Shoygu and Gerasimov, and praised Surovikin's appointment.

Gerasimov is best known in the West for a "doctrine" named after him.

It dates from 2013 and describes a combination of political, economic and other means with military means to achieve political goals.

This “hybrid warfare” has been used in Ukraine since 2014.

The great war that Putin started with Gerasimov's help at the end of February 2022 takes the chief of staff back to the roots of his military career.

The 67-year-old man from Kazan began in Soviet times in an armored division.