What the ruthless new commander of Russia's military in Ukraine signals for the war

Last Sunday, U.S. officials confirmed that General Aleksandr Dvornikov had been appointed to lead Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in a grim omen that it may pursue even more ruthless tactics in the ongoing war.

Dvornikov has been called "the butcher of Syria," having lead a brutal campaign in Syria's civil war in 2015.

He has already been behind some of the most devastating attacks on Ukraine, including in the southern city of Mariupol, which has been all but obliterated, and the missile strike on a train station that killed at least 50...