The appointment of former Kremlin agent Aleksey Dyumin to oversee defense in the Kursk region indicates Vladimir Putin is seeking to root out officers responsible for failing to stop Ukraine's incursion, a think tank has said.
The Russian President wants to know "how and why he was deceived" over Kyiv's tactics and intentions, according to the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The ISW said that several military bloggers had "speculated" Dyumin will "determine the fate of several high-ranking Russian officials and commanders."
It made the assessment after Nikolay Ivanov, a Russian State Duma deputy from the Kursk region, said his sources had confirmed Putin's former bodyguard Dyumin was "instructed to oversee the conduct of the counterterrorist operation" in Kursk.
"The main task is to defeat the Ukrainian Armed Forces that have invaded the territory of the Kursk region," Ivanov told RTVI on Tuesday, referring to the cross-border raid launched by Kyiv on August 6 which appears to have caught Moscow off guard.
Russia hasn't officially confirmed Dyumin's appointment. Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email.
The ISW said reports of Dyumin's involvement sparked widespread speculation among Russian milbloggers and political commentators about the Russian president's disappointment in his security agencies. It also fueled speculation that Putin could conduct a military-political reshuffling, the think tank said.
"Several Kremlin-affiliated milbloggers claimed that Dyumin's appointment was a sign that 'Putin's team' was taking full control over the situation in Kursk Oblast after Russian security forces failed to resolve the situation without Moscow's direct intervention over the past week," the ISW observed.
"Several milbloggers also suggested that Dyumin's appointment means that Putin seeks to find out why and how he was deceived about the real situation in Kursk Oblast, and many speculated that Dyumin's report will determine the fate of several high-ranking Russian officials and commanders," the think tank added.
Russian journalist Alexander Sladkov described Dyumin as "Putin's man" on his Telegram channel on Tuesday, adding that "he will not allow the President to be deceived in reports to himself or others."
Talk of Dyumin being tasked to oversee defense in the Kursk region came as Russia's army chief Valery Gerasimov was reported to be under fire after seemingly dismissing intelligence warnings that Kyiv's forces were preparing to launch an armored assault into Kursk, which borders Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region.
Bloomberg, citing an unnamed source close to the Kremlin, reported on August 8 that Kremlin officials were frustrated with Gerasimov's handling of the war. Similar accusatory reports regarding Gerasimov were circulating on Russian Telegram channels last week, as Ukrainian troops advanced deeper inside the Kursk region.
Ukraine is now reported to have seized more territory in the Kursk region in days than Russia has captured in Ukraine since the beginning of the year. Ukraine's commander in chief Oleksandr Syrsky said the area of military operations in the Kursk region had exceeded 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) by Monday.
U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the armored assault into Russia has "created a real dilemma" for Putin. "That's all I'm going to say about it while it's active."
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said the U.S. "had nothing to do with this."
"We have no involvement. We'll continue to have conversations with the Ukrainians about their approach, but it is really for them to speak to," she told reporters.
Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via worldnews@newsweek.com.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
