Meanwhile, Surovikin was appointed one of Gerasimov's deputies, having previously commanded Russian forces in a "special military operation" in Ukraine last October.

"The increase in the level of leadership of special military operations related to the expansion of duties, the need for closer cooperation between the service and branches of the armed forces, as well as the improvement of the quality of all types of maintenance and efficiency to lead groups of troops," the Russian Ministry of Defense said, launching from the Anadolu Agency website, not long ago.

Who is Gerasimov?

Gerasimov was born in the city of Kazan in 1955 to a working-class family in the then Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, about 800 kilometers east of Moscow. He grew up with a military background.

After graduating from the Kazan Suvorov Military School with honors in 1973, Gerasimov attended the Kazan High Tank Command School.

He then attended the Malinovsky Military Armed Services Academy between 1984 and 1987, and thereafter continued training at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and graduated in 1997.