No calm in Russia: Vladimir Putin has dismissed a key commander

Instead of General Viktor Afzalov, who had held the position since 2023, Colonel General Aleksandr Chaiko has been appointed, The Moscow Times reports, citing an informed source.

New commander under sanctions over Bucha

The 54-year-old Chaiko, a graduate of the Moscow Suvorov Military School, commanded Russian troops in Syria in the late 2010s and has led the Eastern Military District since 2021.

According to the European Union, Chaiko—who holds the title Hero of Russia—is linked to the massacre of civilians in Bucha. He is alleged to have led a unit accused of mass killings of civilians in the area around Kyiv. On March 16 this year, marking the fourth anniversary of the tragedy, the EU imposed personal sanctions on Chaiko and eight other Russian military personnel.

Dismissal follows a series of setbacks

Vladimir Putin’s decision to replace the commander responsible for air defense comes after a series of successful drone attacks that Russian defenses failed to repel.

In late March, drones struck Russia’s largest oil ports on the Baltic Sea, disrupting exports. During April, oil facilities across Russia were attacked more than 20 times. At least nine refineries were hit, five of which halted production, causing oil processing in the country to drop to its lowest level since 2009.

Heavy damage to oil infrastructure

The port and refinery in Tuapse were struck four times, with tens of thousands of tons of oil and petroleum products burned. Reports described “oil rain” falling over the city, while fuel oil leaked into the sea.

A similar scenario occurred on April 30 in Perm, where storage tanks belonging to Transneft and the Permnefteorgsintez refinery—the seventh largest in the country—were hit.

Pro-Russian channels describe Tuapse as “Hiroshima” and “Chernobyl”

Pro-Russian Telegram channels and media have compared the situation in Tuapse to some of the worst nuclear disasters in history, including Atomic bombing of Hiroshima, when the United States dropped an atomic bomb.

“The consequences of the bombing of Tuapse are simply monstrous,” the pro-Russian Telegram channel RIA Katyusha stated.

“What is happening in Tuapse now is Hiroshima, only without radiation.”