Little decorated with the “order of courage” on one of the nuclear suitcase holders in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin granted the order of General Valeri Gherasimov, the head of the General Staff of Russia's armed forces and commander of the Russia's War in Ukraine on Monday.

Gherasimov, one of the most powerful people in the Russian army and against which the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for alleged crimes in Ukraine, is considered the main architect of the modern war strategy. He turned 70 months.

It is believed that Gherasimov has one of the three “nuclear suitcases” that can transmit orders for a nuclear attack. The other two suitcases are at the President of Russia and the Minister of Defense.

The general played a key role in the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and in the decisive military support granted by Russia to President Bashar Al-Assad in the Syria Civil War.

The order of courage, a prestigious state decoration, was granted to Gherasimov “for the courage, courage and devotion that he showed in the fulfillment of military duties”, according to a decree published on Monday night on the official website of legal acts in Russia.

The United States sanctioned Ghertasimov the day after Russia's invasion of February 24, 2022 in Ukraine, stating that it was among those directly responsible. Putin put Gherasimov to lead the Ukraine campaign in January 2023.

Gherasimov, together with the then defense minister, Sergei Şoigu, another close ally of Putin, was strongly criticized by Russian war bloggers for the army failures in the first year of war, when he suffered a series of embarrassing defeats and withdrawals.