Putin is prizing loyalty over competence
By Sean Bell, military analyst
General Valery Gerasimov is the third most powerful man in Russia after the Defence Secretary and President.
He has been Chief of the Russian General Staff since November 2012, and has held overall responsibility for Russian operations in Ukraine for the past 6 months.
He is a long-term ally and friend of President Putin.
However, following Yevgeny Prigozhin's abortive rebellion just over a fortnight ago, Mr Putin might have wanted to purge all those senior military leaders who had anything to do with the potential coup, as brutal predecessors would have done.
And, General Gerasimov had not been seen in public since early June.
General Valery Gerasimov
Media reporting this weekend suggested that he had been replaced as senior commander of forces in Ukraine, but on Sunday Russian state TV carried a video of General Gerasimov directing his senior military commanders, and he was introduced using both his military roles, suggesting he has been retained in post, at least for now.
But why?
Yevgeny Prigozhin's high profile feud with the Russian MOD was primarily focused on General Gerasimov (and Sergei Shoigu the Russian Defence Minister) who Prigozhin described as incompetent and corrupt.
Prigozhin claimed that this prompted his march on Moscow, and that he had no intention of mounting a coup against the president.
Mr Putin will be well aware of the poor performance of his military forces in Ukraine, and he could have used the rebellion as a catalyst for reshuffling his military senior leadership.
However, instead Mr Putin has evidently prioritised loyalty over competence, and retained his senior leadership team.
Putin should have his primary focus on winning the war in Ukraine; however, by prioritising loyalty over competence, Putin has demonstrated that the rebellion represented the biggest threat to his two-decade long grip on power, and that behind the thin veneer of "business as usual", cracks are starting to appear in the Putin empire.
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Hilo ndio tatizo la ushoshalisti, ndio maana huishia kupata matokeo mabovu hata kwenye sekta nyingine muhimu.
T14 Armata