Russian general who led forces into Syria to lead invasion of Ukraine

Russian Army General Aleksandr Dvornikov, the man chosen to lead the next phase of the Moscow War in Ukraine, wrote in a 2018 military newspaper that in modern warfare “the main task is not the physical destruction of the enemy, but the complete submission from him according to his will.”

As the architect of Russia’s military intervention in Syria, where Russian airstrikes have hit civilian targets including hospitals, General Dvornikov has led the forces that have pushed north from Crimea and captured part of territory in southern Ukraine since the invasion began in February.