Analysts: Russian missiles seek to levy pain, could backfire

Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at military think-tank the Royal United Services Institute, said Surovikin’s appointment probably will not bring a major change to Russia’s military campaign. “He has had a career that’s been blighted by accusations of both corruption and brutality,” Kaushal said. “So that may be some insight into how he will approach it. But then again, the Russian approach has already been quite brutal.”