General Sergei Surovikin may return to Ukraine conflict

Reports from Russian and Western sources suggest that Russian General Sergei Surovikin, known for creating the ‘Surovikin Line’, may return to the conflict in Ukraine. Russian political scientist Ruslan Bortnik indicates that if these reports are accurate, Surovikin might be tasked with a strategy to disrupt essential services across major Ukrainian cities during the winter.

The potential strategy involves targeting electricity, heating, sewage, and water supplies in key urban centers such as Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia, and Lviv. The objective would be to create large-scale crises to undermine Ukraine’s economy, military-industrial complex, and administrative functions.

While Bortnik notes that such attacks could cause localized crises, he suggests a total societal collapse may be difficult to achieve because many residents have already prepared with generators and backup power stations. However, he warns that Russia may attempt to sustain these disruptions over several years to reach a cumulative breaking point.