Putin faces internal division among military leaders Ex-NATO commander

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis said on January 12 that there might be a division among Russian military leaders after Russian President Vladimir Putin replaced the commander leading forces in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

"There's an internal kind of division going on between the conventional military represented by [Russian army General Valery] Gerasimov...,[Sergei] Shoigu, the [Russian] defense minister...and on the other side, a man named [Yevgeny] Prigozhin, who is a leader of the Wagner Group, this mercenary group that is admittedly having some success on the battlefield," Stavridis told Meet the Press host Chuck Todd, Newsweek reports.

Igor Girkin, a former Kremlin commander, made similar remarks last weekend, suggesting that the lack of progress in Ukraine seems to be causing a divide in power. Girkin shared a report indicating that Prigozhin said "money oligarchs" could be responsible for "discrediting" his group's work in Ukraine.

Girkin said that Prigozhin targeting oligarchs for new criticism of the Wagner Group shows an increasing division among Russian leaders in the war in Ukraine.

"If I knew how to draw, I would create a caricature on which two heads of our national coat of arms, equipped with faces, peck at each other," Girkin wrote. "The split in power is growing."

Meanwhile, Stravridis added on Thursday that "you could also interpret this that Putin is backing the conventional horse here from his own stables, so a number of different conventions. None of it looks good for Russia."

The former NATO commander's remarks come after the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday on Telegram that Gerasimov will take over the role from General Sergei Surovikin. The move came only three months after Surovikin was assigned the role.

The deputies who will work with Gerasimov are Surovikin, army General Oleg Salyukov and Deputy Chief of the General Staff Colonel-General Alexei Kim, Reuters reported.

Military expert Igor Korotchenko said that the commander replacement is due to the West sending long-range heavy weapons to Ukraine and the possibility that Western nations could send armored vehicles and battle tanks.

Korotchenko also said that appointing Gerasimov might be an indicator that Russia might use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, according to Reuters.

"The appointment of Gerasimov means that all means of destruction in the arsenals of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation—without exception—can be used," Korotchenko said.

Meanwhile, Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of the R.Politik analysis firm, said that replacing the commander comes as a result of Russia's setbacks in Ukraine.

"Gerasimov was handed command of the military operation because of Surovikin's serious setbacks," she said, according to Reuters. "Putin is looking for effective tactics against the background of a 'creeping' defeat.

"He is trying to reshuffle the pieces and is therefore giving chances to those he finds persuasive. Today, Gerasimov turned out to be persuasive. Tomorrow it could be anybody else."

On Tuesday, Shoigu vowed that Russia will build a deeper arsenal of weapons and enhance aviation technology, according to Reuters.

Newsweek reached out to Russia's defense ministry for comment.