ISW: Russian military leadership continues to experience major turnover in Ukraine

Russian military leadership continues to experience major turnover, which is likely impacting Russian command and control efforts in Ukraine.

The UK Ministry of Defense confirmed ISW’s previous assessments that Russian military leadership has experienced major turn-overs due to Russian military failures in Ukraine, the US-based think-tank Institute for the Study of War reported on August 7. 

At least six Russian commanders have likely been dismissed from their posts since the beginning of the war in February, potentially including Eastern Military District (EMD) commander Colonel General Aleksandr Chayko and Western Military District (WMD) commander Colonel General Aleksandr Zhuravlev, the report added.

According to the report, Army General Aleksandr Dvornikov has been removed from overall theater command of Ukraine and that Army General Sergey Surovikin has taken over the “Southern Grouping” of forces in Ukraine.

The lack of consistency in the Russian command structure and continued losses to military leadership on the battlefield are complicating command and control and the overall effectiveness of operations in Ukraine, the UK defence ministry says.

ISW has previously reported on changes to Russian military command and continues to track the ramifications of these changes on Russian offensive capabilities.