Leading Russian hawks steel are with the humiliating decision to withdraw from the Ukrainian city of Kherson this month, but the commander who championed the move is now under increasing pressure to prove he did the right thing.
On November 9, Sergei Surovokin, nicknamed General Armageddon by the Russian media, ordered Russian forces to leave Kherson and the western bank of the Dnieper River, where they were dangerously exposed.
Surovikin, a 56-year-old veteran of the wars in Chechnya and Syria who was decorated by President Vladimir Putin, argued that the withdrawal would allow Moscow to salvage equipment and deploy its forces, estimated by the U.S. to be 30.000 there, for offensives elsewhere.
Part of those troops have been moved from southern to eastern Ukraine, where fierce fighting is raging, and the winner of the Hero of Russia order is under pressure on the threshold of winter to show that he made the right decision, writes Reuters.
"We are waiting for your brilliant results and we pray for you, I pray for you every day," said Margarita Simonyan, chief and responsible editor of the state television "Rasha Today" and one of the main public advocates of the war, to Surovikina in a TV show last Sunday.
Simonyan urged Surovikin to ignore "nonsense" from critics, alluding to influential military bloggers who are unhappy with his decision to withdraw.
One of those bloggers, Vladlen Tatarsky, who has more than half a million followers on the Telegram messaging service, reacted angrily to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Kherson after the withdrawal, asking why the Russians had not killed him.
"Why are we spilling our blood? Why can Zelensky come to Kherson peacefully? Tatarsky asked in a video announcement.
"Symbolically, it would have been great if a Geran (a type of drone) had landed on his stupid head, but that didn't happen. Why? Either we're going to have an all-out war ... or we're going to achieve nothing."
Pressure
Russian ultranationalist Alexander Dugin, whose daughter Darya was killed near Moscow in August in what Russia says was a Ukrainian state-sponsored assassination, put additional pressure on Surovikin, saying Kherson was the last piece of Ukrainian territory Russia could afford to cede.
"The limit has been reached," Dugin told the nationalist portal "Canigrad" (Tsargrad).
Senior Russian government officials and war hawks say they want Kherson back at some point, which, according to Reuters, seems unlikely anytime soon.
Conquering new territories in the east in a fight with a highly motivated Ukrainian army equipped with western weapons is also not an easy task, especially in winter. The Ukrainian authorities, on the other hand, promised to continue liberating the territories.
Some are also calling on Surovikin to intensify Russia's bombing campaign against Ukraine's energy infrastructure, with the goal, it is believed, of bringing the Ukrainians to the negotiating table.
Vladimir Solovyov, one of Russia's most famous ultra-nationalist TV hosts, said last Sunday: "I appeal to the hero of Russia, Army General Surovikin: Comrade Army Generals, please complete the total destruction of the energy infrastructure of the Nazi Ukrainian junta."
Some are also calling on Surovikin to step up the bombing campaign against Ukraine's energy infrastructure
Other TV commentators have begun to publicly question the way the war is being waged, albeit in carefully crafted performances aimed at creating the impression of genuine public debate, according to Reuters.
One of them, Dmitry Abzalov, complained about the lack of information, saying he would like to know, "for a change," what Moscow's specific goals are in Ukraine.
Maksim Yusin resented what he said were lies being told by some politicians on state TV who boasted that Russian forces are so strong they could reach "the Polish border, Berlin, the English Channel and Lisbon."
"It's a comedy," Jusin said.
Some of the wives and mothers of recently mobilized Russians have organized to try to put pressure on the Ministry of Defense regarding what they believe is inadequate training and equipment.
Reuters points out that their number is relatively small so far, but their complaints, which the Ministry of Defense rejects, are similar to those coming from public figures, advocates of war.
Scapegoat?
Surovikin's appointment on October 8 was the first time that Russia had publicly named a commander-in-chief of its forces in Ukraine.
The withdrawal from Kherson went faster and easier than many Western military analysts had predicted. A senior US military official told Reuters it was "relatively more orderly" compared to previous Russian withdrawals.
British military intelligence agreed, saying in a statement on Sunday that Russian forces were likely successful in limiting the loss of military equipment while destroying what they left behind.
It was obvious that Surovikin's appointment and praise for him was at least partly a consequence of the need to create a figurehead with a mandate for "shameful" actions that Putin did not want to take on his own behalf.
While the Russian military continues to suffer from poor leadership at the lower and middle levels ... this relative success is likely due in part to a more effective, unified operational command under General Sergei Surovikin," they said.
Ukraine's defense minister and Western diplomats say the general appears to have introduced greater discipline as well as more brutality with his increased attacks on infrastructure.
"Surovikin has made a big difference to the way they operate," says Anthony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia. He added that "there is more of a sense of coherence and reasonable purpose to what Russia is doing in military thought."
In some Russian circles, his appointment was interpreted as the installation of a potential scapegoat, shielding Putin and, to a lesser extent, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, from direct criticism.
"It was obvious that Surovikin's appointment and praise for him was at least partially a consequence of the need to create a figurehead with a mandate for "shameful" actions that Putin did not want to take on his own behalf," said former Russian diplomat Alexander Baunov, a Carnegie senior fellow. center.
He added that Surovikin fit that mold because his image as a Siberian willing to use brutal tactics to get results appealed to Russian nationalists and in their eyes he had the authority to oversee the withdrawal without causing too much dangerous internal division.
"The general has used half of his mandate. Now he will be expected to use the second half," said Baunov.
"Some will see this as a new offensive that will prove that all the withdrawals were actually a tactical maneuver. Others will see it as a way to force Ukraine to enter peace talks using the following formula: the city of Kherson in exchange for peace, electricity, water and heating in Ukrainian cities".
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