Desperate Putin promotes a ruthless new general to take over the failed invasion of Ukraine while the Russian army faces collapse

VLADIMIR Putin has promoted a ruthless new general to lead his disastrous and botched invasion.

The tyrant has given General Sergei Surovikin complete command of the Russian forces desperately trying to regroup in Ukraine.

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Putin’s Defense Ministry confirmed the new appointment just hours after Vlad’s precious bridge from Russia to Crimea was blown up.

The attack is believed to have been carried out by Ukrainian special forces – possibly using an incredibly large truck bomb.

The blast on the bridge is a massive blow – and further hammers down Russia’s fight in Ukraine.

Surovikin, 55, is Moscow’s third senior military appointment in a week.

The move follows the reported dismissal this week of the commanders of two of Russia’s five military regions, as its forces have suffered a series of dramatic setbacks in north-eastern and southern Ukraine in recent weeks.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not say who, if anyone, Surovikin would replace.

Surovikin, who is married with three daughters, has headed the Russian Air and Space Forces since 2017.

He previously led Russia’s bloody campaign in Syria when Moscow intervened in 2015 on the side of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which managed to regain control of more than 50 percent of the country.

Surovikin led Russian forces in Syria and was accused of overseeing a brutal bombardment that destroyed much of the city of Aleppo.

He was promoted to army general in 2021 – one of only a handful of Russian officers to achieve such a rank – and later this summer assigned to troops in southern Ukraine.

In February he was sanctioned by the EU for being “responsible for actively supporting and implementing policies and measures which undermine and threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine”.

Surovikin’s appointment comes as Russia threatens to lose the war by Christmas, while Vlad’s army faces total collapse in a massive humiliation for the tyrant.

Its forces could be pushed back to the Russian border by the end of the year if Kyiv continues its counter-offensive, a senior British government source has claimed.

Ben Hodges, a former US military chief in charge of US forces in Europe, said Russian lines were rapidly collapsing.

Russian lines are set to collapse dramatically in eastern Ukraine as President Zelenskyy’s men continue their blitz counteroffensive in the region.

Ukrainian fighters have retaken parts of territory in the northeastern Kharkiv region and are closing in on Kherson – which, if caught, would be a monumental and embarrassing defeat for the Kremlin.

Meanwhile, British intelligence said Russian tanks now make up a large part of Ukraine’s armaments.

The Defense Ministry said Kyiv captured and repurposed at least 440 Russian main battle tanks and 650 armored vehicles.

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