He is now at the head of the Russian army and responsible for the country’s new strategy, focused on the invasion of Donbass in the context of the war in Ukraine. Who is Alexander Dvornikov, whose reputation rhymes with cruelty and
60-year-old Alexander Dvornikov is to oversee Russian operations in the Donbass. As the Express recalls, this Russian general has been in command since 2016 of the military district of southern Russia, which includes Crimea and Donbass.
chilling reputation
Cruel and bloodthirsty, he got the nickname “the butcher of Syria” because of its role in the massacres committed by the Russian army which intervened in the country to support Bashar Al-Assad in 2015.
But this ultra-brutal reputation dates back to long before the war in Syria, specifies The Huffington Post. Indeed, already in 1999, Alexander Dvornikov is at the head of a division that ravages the capital Groznyduring the war in Chechnya.
In Syria, his relentlessness is focused on Aleppowhere he mercilessly bombs civilians, hospitals and homes. 18,000 civilian victims are counted because of the Russian aerial bombardments according to a Syrian NGO quoted by TV5 Monde.
In the panel of its violent methods, we find the use of chemical weapons, cluster bombs, bombardments of civilian areas, the targeting of hospitals…
Proximity to Wagner
“The Butcher of Syria” was born and to add to its wild reputation, we must highlight a collaboration with the Russian mercenary group Wagnerknown for its cruel practices.
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What is the “Wagner” group, this “Putin’s shadow army” present in Ukraine?
The EU, for example, denounced “acts of torture and extrajudicial executions and murders”. Sanctions have been criticized by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
A logical choice?
For analysts, placing this man at the head of the Russian army is a strategy to try to make people forget the country’s setbacks against Ukraine.
“The designation of Alexander Dvornikov as general commander now makes sense. The main Russian efforts announced are almost all in his area of responsibility”, analyzes the American think tank Institute for the study of war quoted by TV5 Monde.
As indicated above, the district for which the general was responsible includes the Crimea and the Donbass, where Russia concentrates most of its strategy, in particular through the siege of Mariupol.
