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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reported appointment of a new general known as the “Butcher of Syria” to oversee the invasion of Ukraine is a choice that shows the Biden administration exactly what to expect as Moscow’s bloody aggression continues, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday.
Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, commander of Russia’s southern military district (SMD), was reported to be Putin’s pick as the new commander to lead operations in Ukraine. U.S. officials have said the 60-year-old general has a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and other theaters of war.
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Psaki appeared on “Fox News Sunday” and addressed what the reported appointment of Dvornikov could mean as global concerns grow over the bloodshed in Ukraine.
In this photo taken on March 17, 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, poses with Col. Gen. Alexander Dvornikov during an awarding ceremony in Moscow’s Kremlin, Russia. Russia has appointed a new Ukraine war commander. A top U.S. official on Sunday, April 10, 2022 said Russia named Gen. Dvornikov as commander of an armed campaign that Russian authorities still refer to as a “special military operation.”
(Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
“The reports we are seeing of a change in military leadership and putting a general in charge who is responsible for the brutality and atrocities we saw in Syria shows there’s going to be a continuation of what we’ve seen on the ground in Ukraine and that is what we are expecting,” Psaki said.
Dvornikov gained prominence as head of Russian forces that Moscow deployed to Syria in 2015 to shore up President Bashar Assad’s regime amid the country’s devastating civil war.
Russian authorities do not generally confirm such appointments, and have said nothing about a new role for Dvornikov, who received the Hero of Russia medal, one of the country’s…
Source : foxnews
