
Russian President Vladimir Putin has a new general overseeing his war in Ukraine.
Army General Alexander Dvornikov, the commander of Russia's Southern Military District, has been named as theater commander of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, according to a US official and a European official.
Dvornikov, 60, was the first commander of Russia's military operations in Syria, after Putin sent troops there in September 2015 to back the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
During Dvornikov's command in Syria from September 2015 to June 2016, Russian aircraft backed the Assad regime and its allies as they laid siege to rebel-held eastern Aleppo, bombarding densely populated neighborhoods and causing major civilian casualties. The city fell to Syrian government forces in December 2016.
From 2000 to 2003 Dvornikov served in Russia's lengthy pacification campaign in the north Caucasus, including the Second Chechen War, which left the regional capital of Chechnya, Grozny, in ruins.
Russian forces have used a similarly heavy-handed approach in parts of Ukraine, striking residential buildings in major cities and demolishing much of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
Dvornikov was awarded the title of "Hero the Russian Federation" by the Kremlin in March 2016 for his services.
The appointment of a new overall commander to lead Russia's war in Ukraine appears to be an effort to remedy another problem that has hampered Russian forces: lack of coordination.
Read more about the general here and watch retired Lt. Gen. James Marks, a CNN military analyst, explain the next phase of the war: