Russian President Vladimir Putin is showing signs that he is aware his military is "falling short" in its war against Ukraine, according to the latest British intelligence update.
In its intelligence briefing posted to Twitter on Wednesday, the U.K. Ministry of Defence pointed to reports of Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov being promoted to head of the Russian military as "a significant development in Russian President Vladimir Putin's approach to managing the war."
Reuters reported earlier in the day that Gerasimov was appointed to the new position by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, overtaking the role from Sergey Surovikin.
"The deployment of the [Chief of the General Staff] as theatre commander is an indicator of the increasing seriousness of the situation Russia is facing, and a clear acknowledgement that the campaign is falling short of Russia's strategic goals," the British ministry said in its report.
Gerasimov's promotion comes after a series of setbacks in Russia's war in Ukraine, where the Kremlin's army has reportedly lost over 110,000 soldiers since it invaded its neighbor in February. Surovikin had served as head of Putin's military since October, and will stay on as deputy to Gerasimov, according to Russia's Defense Ministry.
Despite the list of failures from Russian troops under Surovikin's lead, however, the official was anticipated to turn the tide for the Kremlin just a few months ago when appointed in October, and has been nicknamed "General Armageddon" for his brutal battlefield tactics. U.K.'s defense ministry wrote in its update that Gerasimov's appointment was likely to receive pushback from some of Russia's more conservative voices.