News Snapshot:
Leaders in wartime change generals when they’re losing, not when they’re winning. On January 11, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, was to replace Sergei Surovikin, who was appointed last October, as his new overall commander of Russian military forces in Ukraine. The only reasonable conclusion: Putin understands Russia is losing the war. This shake-up at the top is not the only sign of Putin’s recognition of failure. He cancelled his annual end-of-year news conference, evidently reluctant to take questions, even from a mostly loyal and controlled press corps. His solitary and subdued appearance...
