Russia installs new general as it prepares next move

by Ellen Mitchell - 04/11/22 8:14 PM ET

Russia has installed a new general to oversee its attack on Ukraine, prompting fears more brutality could soon follow. We’ll share what we know about the new leader and what Western officials are warning about, plus more details on a reported chemical attack in southern Ukraine and the latest debate over the Pentagon’s budget proposal.

This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Ellen Mitchell. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

Nations brace for Russian general with brutal past

Western nations along with Ukraine are bracing for more brutality following Russia’s reported appointment of a new general to oversee the Kremlin’s attack on the former Soviet country.

Gen. Aleksandr Dvornikov, 60, who had commanded Russia’s southern military district, led crushing military operations in Ukraine’s Donbas region and in Syria, which resulted in the massacres of tens of thousands of civilians – a brutal past that U.S. officials say may show its face in Ukraine in the coming weeks.

The newly installed general comes as the Kremlin, now 46 days into its invasion, appears to have switched focus to the eastern part of Ukraine following failed attempts to topple the government in Kyiv.

Warnings: “He and other senior Russian leaders . . . have shown clearly in the past their disregard for avoiding civilian harm, their utter disregard in many ways for the laws of war, laws of armed conflict, and the brutality with which they conduct their operations,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said of Dvornikov on Monday.

“I think, sadly, we can all expect that the same brutal tactics, that same disregard for civilian life and civilian infrastructure, will probably continue as they now focus in a more geographically confined area in the Donbas.”

Past atrocities: Known as the “Butcher of Syria,” Dvornikov was the first head of Russia’s military operations in the country after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops there in September 2015 to back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In Syria, Dvornikov was part of a military campaign that bombed and razed densely populated neighborhoods in Aleppo, the country’s largest city, in which chemical weapons were used and banned cluster munitions were dropped by both the Russian and Syrian militaries.

Since 2016, Dvornikov has been the commander of Russia’s southern military district, responsible for the fighting in Donbas prior to the current invasion of Ukraine which began on Feb. 24.

A violent turn:Still, Dvornikov’s reputation has top U.S. officials worried that the war will take a particularly violent turn and become far worse than what’s already been seen.

“What we should all be aware of . . . is this is a general who was already responsible for overseeing atrocities in Syria, and we would expect that it would be a continuation of the type of atrocities we’ve already seen take place in Ukraine,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday.

At the Pentagon, Kirby said Dvornikov could usher in “a more protracted and a very bloody next phase here of this conflict.”

Shifting tactics: Dvornikov takes on his new role as Russia is preparing for what’s expected to be an all out assault on Donbas, Ukraine’s industrial heartland and the eastern-most part of the country.

Ahead of that fight, Dvornikov must take on the arduous task of centralizing Russia’s forces, which have thus far been plagued by morale and logistics issues, according to experts and defense officials.

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RUSSIA STARTS TO REINFORCE POSITIONS IN DONBAS

Russia has begun to reinforce and resupply its troops in the Donbas region of Ukraine ahead of an expected assault on the area, the Pentagon’s top spokesperson said on Monday.

U.S. intelligence has picked up on early indications that the Russians are “trying to resupply and reinforce their efforts in the Donbas,” press secretary John Kirby told reporters.

New images showing a convoy of vehicles heading south toward the town of Izyum are believed to be part of the reinforcement effort by the Kremlin, Kirby said, though it was not clear how many vehicles are in the convoy or what they were carrying.

“It does seem to be a mix of personnel carrying vehicles as well as armored vehicles and maybe some artillery, maybe some enabling capabilities,” he added.

Ukraine accuses Russia of chemical weapons attack

Ukrainian forces and officials have accused Russia of dropping chemical weapons on the port city of Mariupol, causing troops and civilians alike to develop respiratory illnesses.

“Russian occupation forces used a poisonous substance of unknown origin against Ukrainian military and civilians in the city of Mariupol, which was dropped from an enemy [unmanned aerial vehicle],” the Azoz Regiment, a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine, posted to Telegram on Monday. “The victims have respiratory failure, vestibulo-atactic syndrome.”

The Pentagon’s response: The Pentagon could not confirm the social media reports that Russian forces had deployed a potential chemical weapon, but said it is aware of the claims.

“These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine,” press secretary John Kirby said in a statement, adding that the Defense Department will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Other reports: Ukrainian officials also reported the attack over social media.

“ATTENTION! Chemical weapons are used against Ukrainian defenders in #Mariupol! russia openly crosses all boundaries of humanity and openly declares it . . .” Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, wrote on Twitter.

A possible escalation: The reports, if accurate, would mark an escalation in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began on Feb. 24.

Top U.S. and Ukrainian officials last month said they were bracing for such a scenario, which could open the door to a wider conflict.

Inflation emerges as key debate in defense spending

Inflation has emerged as a central factor as Congress prepares to negotiate how much money it should appropriate to the Department of Defense in fiscal year 2023.

Republicans argue that the proposed budget doesn’t do enough to counter inflation, which in February hit an annual rate of 7.9 percent as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Liberal lawmakers, however, argue that inflation is being used by some defense contractors to inflate the prices of goods provided to the agency.

Pentagon officials told Congress that the agency doesn’t measure the impacts of inflation by the CPI, but instead uses a measure based on gross domestic product. Either way, the agency acknowledges that it was wrong in its estimates on inflation, but still feels that it can fulfil its top priorities with its proposed topline.

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