Zelensky replaces top general in new military shakeup

On June 24th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky replaced the Commander of the Joint Forces of Ukrainian Armed Forces in the most significant personnel shakeup since Valerii Zaluzhnyi was removed as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces in February. 

Lieutenant General Yurii Sodol was appointed to his new position by General Oleksandr Syrsky, the man who took over as Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief following the shakeup in February, according to reporting from the New York Times.

Zelensky announced that Sodol was replaced as Commander of the Joint Forces of Ukrainian Armed Forces by Brigadier General Andrii Hnatov. He didn’t give a reason for the dismissal, but reports point to criticism of Sodol’s generalship.

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Mil.gov.ua, CC BY 4.0

Hours before Sodol was removed from his post, the Chief of Staff of the Azov Brigade filed a complaint with Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation regarding an unnamed general who was causing more casualties for Ukraine than the Russians. 

In a Telegram post about his complaint, Major Bohdan Krotevych wrote he called for the investigation of “a military general who in my opinion has killed more Ukrainian soldiers than any Russian general” according to a translation by Ukrainska Pravda. 

“I don't give a s**t if they open an investigation against me, and I don't give a s**t if they put me in jail,” Krotevych wrote in frustration about his decision to file a complaint about the unnamed general he was criticizing. 

“It bothers me that they convict battalion and brigade commanders for the loss of an observation post, but they don't convict a general for the loss of oblasts and dozens of cities and thousands of soldiers,” Krotevych added. 

Krotevych continued by commenting on the heroism of the soldiers defending Ukraine but added sometimes the “world sends us scum to unite us. And everyone in the military will know who I'm talking about here,” Krotevych added. 

Krotevych went on to explain that “99% of the military hated the general” he was writing about for what he was doing and complained about the general launching investigations against everyone but himself. “I'm sick of it. The Rubicon has been crossed."

Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Oleksandr Srysky quickly responded to Krotevych’s criticism with his own statement in which he highlighted that the safety of Ukrainian soldiers was his paramount concern. 

“Quality training, effective medical care and technological advantage — we are creating a universal system for each unit, the key priority of which is to save the lives of our soldiers,” Srysky wrote according to the New York Times. 

“The lives of soldiers are of the highest value,” Srysky continued. However, Krotevych’s message on Telegram made many wonder about whom he filed a complaint about, it was a question that was quickly answered by some. 

The New York Times reported Mariana Bezuhla, a member of the Ukrainian parliament's defense committee, published her own statement about the matter on social media and claimed Krotevych was writing about Sodol.

“Will this continue?” Bezuhla wrote on Telegram. “Do the military have to unite on the basis of hatred for their leader? Do we really have to lose people and territory like this? Is this how it works?”

Krotevych may have unofficially confirmed that his complaint was about Sodol after he commented on the lieutenant general’s replacement, writing that General Hnatov was a “very worthy officer,” according to BBC News. 

However, Bezuhla issued a statement on Zelensky’s replacement of Sodol and said that more needed to be done to fix the problems the military was facing. “Without changing the principles of the system, one personnel decision will not produce anything.”

Ukraine has been under increasing pressure from Russian forces across the frontline of the conflict for months. Since February, Moscow has captured the Ukrainian fortress city of Avdiivka and made grinding progress in a number of areas. 

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