Alexander Dvornikov: Russia has appointed a new general for Ukraine. Can Moscow reboot its war in time for Putin to claim a victory?

Lviv, Ukraine CNN — Russian President Vladimir Putin has a new general overseeing his war in Ukraine, and his military commanders are signaling a new phase in the war: an all-out effort to take and hold the portions of Ukraine’s Donbas region still under Ukrainian control. “Russia will likely continue to throw badly damaged and partially reconstituted units piecemeal into offensive operations that make limited gains at great cost.” Military analysts and observers say Russia may struggle to reorganize forces that have been battered by the Ukrainian military, particularly in the defense of Kyiv and northern Ukraine. Those US defense estimates, ISW said, “unintentionally exaggerate the Russian military’s current capabilities to fight.” According to ISW, “the dozens of Russian battalion tactical groups that retreated from around Kyiv likely possess combat power that is a fraction of what the numbers of units or total numbers of personnel with those units would suggest. Russian units that have fought in Ukraine have taken fearful damage.” A commander with a track record of brutality Army General Alexander Dvornikov, the commander of Russia’s Southern Military District, has been named as theater commander of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, according to a US official and a European official. ISW said Russia’s military “likely will make gains nevertheless and may either trap or wear down Ukrainian forces enough to secure much of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, but it is at least equally likely that these Russian offensives will culminate before reaching their objectives, as similar Russian operations have done.” In remarks Sunday, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Ukraine was prepared for intense fighting.