Russia has shifted its top logistics commander in charge of the war in Ukraine, moving the position to a higher ranking officer seven months into the conflict. The Kremlin has struggled to meet its aims and now signals a plan to push ahead with partial mobilization and referendums on annexation. General Dmitry Bulgakov, Russia’s deputy defense minister, was reassigned after taking on another role. He was replaced by Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, who previously led the National Defense Control Center and was charged with directing the siege of the port city of Mariupol. In Western media, Mizintsev has been nicknamed the “Butcher of Mariupol” for the role in that campaign.
This shake-up follows a series of top-level changes the Kremlin has undertaken over recent months. British intelligence and think tanks like the Institute for War Studies have noted that senior military leadership remains at the center of Russia’s response to the fighting in Ukraine.
logistics problems
Over the past seven months, Western observers have highlighted recurring logistics shortfalls for the Russian army. Supplies of war materiel, reinforcements, and fuel have faced delays and disruptions as operations unfolded on multiple fronts.
The challenge has grown as Ukraine began receiving longer-range weapons from the United States and European partners. These systems have enabled Kyiv to strike Russian supply lines and stockpiles, as well as disruption routes to the front. Attacks on key transport nodes, including transfer points and storage depots, have complicated Russia’s ability to move men and materiel efficiently.
In the northeast, the Kharkiv counteroffensive exposed Ukraine’s capacity to hit logistics lines and force withdrawals. In the south, strikes on pontoons and bridges in the Kherson region have limited Russia’s ability to pull back and resupply, with Ukrainian forces asserting control over many routes of withdrawal and supply.
These dynamics have hindered Moscow’s objectives of liberating Donbas, consolidating gains in the south, and maintaining a land corridor from the eastern edge of Ukraine toward the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.
Putin’s recipes to save the enterprise
Facing rising criticism of the campaign’s pace from political and military voices alike, including regional leaders and independent media, President Vladimir Putin has chosen a more aggressive path. He has signaled a plan to pursue annexation in the four regions Moscow cannot yet fully control through partial mobilization, a decision announced midweek.
Independent outlets have reported that the perceived outcomes of the referendums appear preordained in the Kremlin’s view, with insiders suggesting overwhelming support in Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia. Once annexation is completed, Moscow would claim a strengthened right to defend those territories with all available means.
The mobilization effort is intended to steady political support for the war and to restore momentum on the battlefield. Yet British intelligence warns that even a scaled mobilization could pose serious logistical and administrative challenges for assembling hundreds of thousands of reservists. The plan would likely involve forming new units that may struggle to reach battlefield readiness quickly.
Independent reports have speculated that the Kremlin aims to recruit well over a million people, suggesting a sweeping mobilization directive. The implications are debated among foreign observers who weigh potential gains against the strain of large-scale deployment.