Senior Ukrainian army chief sacked by Zelenskyy

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sacked Lieutenant Common Yuriy Sodol as commander of the joint forces of the nation’s military hours after complaints about his conduct within the struggle with Russia have been made by a distinguished soldier.

Zelenskyy introduced on Monday night that Brigadier Common Andriy Hnatov would change Sodol, within the newest shake-up to Ukraine’s senior army management.

The modifications got here shortly after Bohdan Krotevych, chief of workers of the Azov nationwide guard brigade, accused Sodol of incompetence on the battlefield and blamed him for the deaths of “1000’s” of Ukrainian troopers beneath his command. 

Russia’s armed forces have slowly seized the initiative in Ukraine after Kyiv’s failed counteroffensive final yr and a six-month delay in US army help that allowed Moscow to make contemporary territorial good points.

In a uncommon show of public criticism of Ukraine’s army management by a serving officer, Krotevych wrote on Telegram that he had appealed to the State Bureau of Investigations to conduct a probe into Sodol’s conduct. 

“I wrote a letter to the SBI with a name to launch an investigation in opposition to one army basic who, for my part, has killed extra Ukrainian troopers than any Russian basic,” he mentioned. 

“I don’t care if they begin an investigation in opposition to me, and I donʼt care in the event that they put me in jail. I care that combatants and brigade commanders are judged for the lack of an commentary publish, however the basic just isn’t judged for the lack of areas and dozens of cities and the lack of 1000’s of troopers.”

The SBI didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark but it surely confirmed to the Interfax-Ukraine information company the receipt of Krotevych’s attraction and mentioned it had initiated an investigation.

The final workers of the Ukrainian armed forces additionally didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark about Sodol’s conduct.

Sodol was appointed commander of the joint forces of the Ukrainian military in February, having beforehand served as commander of the marine corps.

Zelenskyy on the time introduced a giant army reshuffle, choosing Colonel Common Oleksandr Syrsky to switch Common Valery Zaluzhny as commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces.

Hnatov, a former chief of workers and deputy commander of the Ukrainian military’s southern command, managed the defences of the cities of Mykolayiv and Bakhmut. 

Mykolayiv remains to be beneath Ukrainian management, however Bakhmut was destroyed earlier than being occupied by Russian forces in Might 2023.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, this month mentioned his nation would start negotiations to finish the struggle in alternate for management of 4 frontline Ukrainian areas.

Putin’s proposals have been instantly rejected by Kyiv, on the idea they amounted to capitulation and would go away the nation susceptible to future assaults.