“I decided to replace the commander of the combined forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Yuriy Sodol, with Brigadier General Andriy Knatov,” Zelensky said on the social network Telegram.
The Ukrainian head of state did not specify the reasons for the dismissal, but the decision came after criticism from the commander of the Azov brigade, known for its links with ultranationalist circles.
The commander, Bogdan Krotevych, revealed this morning that he had filed a complaint with the Security Services of Ukraine (SBU) to open an investigation into Sodol.
According to Ukrainian media, Krodevych accused Sodal of incompetence, which led to the deaths of Ukrainian soldiers and setbacks at the front, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The Ukrainian army has been struggling since the failure of its counteroffensive in the summer of 2023, with Russian troops capturing new villages in the east and south of the country every week, but without real progress.
The Russian army launched a ground offensive in the Kharkiv region (northeast) in early May, seizing several positions before being slowed by reinforcements sent from Kiev.
Ukrainian forces, for their part, suffer from a lack of recruitment due to slow mobilization and delays in Western aid delivery of weapons.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, with the argument of protecting a pro-Russian separatist minority in the east and “undermining” the neighboring country, independent since 1991 – after the breakup of the former Soviet Union – where it moved. Move closer to Europe and the West from Moscow’s place of influence.
The war in Ukraine has already claimed tens of thousands of lives on both sides, and recent months have been marked by Russia’s large-scale airstrikes against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, while Kiev’s forces have targeted targets on the nearby Russian border with the Crimean peninsula, which was illegally annexed in 2014.
Already in its third year of war, the Ukrainian armed forces are facing a shortage of soldiers and weapons and ammunition, despite numerous promises of help from Western allies, which have begun to operate.
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