Russian General Gerasimov's demise will change nothing — Lieutenant General Romanenko

Former deputy chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ (AFU) General Staff, Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, advised against believing rumors about the elimination of the head of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, in an interview with Radio NV on Jan. 6.

"[It is worth] not living with the approach as if manna from heaven will fall on Ukraine, and the military-political leaders [of the Russian Federation] will die,” Romanenko said.

This war will be difficult and prolonged, he noted, likening it to a marathon rather than a sprint.

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"Various foreign sources say that Gerasimov's health is poor, that he abuses alcohol, like many politicians and military personnel in Russia,”  Romanenko said.

“However, this does not mean that the situation will change due to events related to some individual representatives of the so-called elite. Thanks to the three-decade Putin's reign, a collective Putin has been formed there, who will carry out the tasks of this large-scale war, both with actual Putin and without him, even without individual representatives of the military leadership."

The head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, has not yet confirmed that Gerasimov had been killed following AFU strikes on military facilities in Russia-occupied Crimea, amid rumors of Gerasimov’s passing.

Read also: Russian occupation brings humanitarian crisis — problems with water supply, heating, and medicines

The Russians general was previously reported to have been "nearly liquidated by the SBU." On April 28, 2022, media outlets reported that Gerasimov personally arrived in the then-occupied Ukrainian city of Izyum, Kharkiv Oblast, to command troops in Donbas.

Anton Herashchenko, an advisor to the head of the Internal Affairs Ministry, said on May 1 that Gerasimov may have been wounded near Izyum. Explosions in Izyum occurred in the area of the headquarters of the 2nd Army of the Russian forces, where the headquarters of the Russian General Staff was located.

Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Ministry later reported having confirmation that Gerasimov, was indeed near Izyum. However, there is no confirmation that he was injured.

The commander-in-chief of the AFU, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, admitted in spring 2023 that he reads Gerasimov’s publications, stating, "I am interested in his opinion as a military man."

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine