Within hours, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he had replaced Lieutenant General Yuri Sodol as commander of the Joint Forces of Ukraine. Sodol could command field forces for a significant range of gateways spanning eastern Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions, and is expected to be removed from that post as well.
This incident is an unedited account of future military leadership changes amid the Ukrainian conflicts in the 600-mile invasion. Sodol was in office for only four months, having been replaced by Ukrainian Army Colonel General Oleksandr Sirsky, whom Zelensky had recently appointed to the highest post.
Analysts said removing Sodol immediately could weaken Syrsky – who is already widely disliked by rank-and-file infantrymen, whom they view as cruel and old-school, reminiscent of the Soviet Union’s military management. Consider the technology of. It also risks adversely affecting Zelensky, who took greater control of battlefield selection by firing General Valery Zaluzny in February.
Since Russia invaded more than two years ago, family investigations of Ukraine’s military – which has always been voted the country’s most trusted institution – have been barred. And disputes and grievances within the ranks are often kept private; Infantrymen who criticize their orders may face retaliation. It is believed that the discussion of defeat in the battle is an unknown situation, which the political leadership of Ukraine decided to downplay so as not to weaken the morale of the crowd.
The naming of Krotevich to investigate Sodol is a stunning display of the cracks within Ukrainian command. It echoes what a group of Ukrainian military workers had been quietly grumbling about for months about the alternative – what they considered unfair orders that ended in casualties, undermining and missing guns. Gone.
All this is happening in the backdrop of Russia occupying about 260 square miles within four months.
“It bothers me that they blame battalion and brigade commanders for the loss of one observation post, but they don’t blame a general for the loss of (regions) and dozens of cities and thousands of soldiers,” Krotevich said on Telegram. Let’s settle.”
In his nightly address on Monday, Zelensky did not give any reason for Sodol’s dismissal, saying at best that he would be replaced by Brig. General Andrey Hnatov. On Wednesday morning, Zelensky posted a video from Donetsk Patch, with Sirsky and Hnatov later sharing a tip from the branch’s infantrymen.
Zelensky said, “General Hnatov’s task is clear: to destroy the occupier and, importantly, to preserve the lives of our soldiers as much as possible.”
In line with his complaint, which was procured through The Washington Post, Krotevich accused Sodol of missteps in his role as commander of the ruined defense of the city of Mariupol in 2022. Part of the siege that was National Security, the Azov Brigade gained popularity for taking over the Azovstal plant long after the rest of the city had fallen.
“Although General Sodol did not manage the defense of the city and did not spend a single hour in Mariupol, he was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine,” wrote Krotevich, adding that he did not provide the Azov Brigade with ammunition or construction. . The city’s security structures before the attack.
Then a city commander asked Sodol for directions, Krotevich saw Sodol respond, “We’re (bad)” before attacking, he said in the complaint.
Recently, during his command of the Eastern Front, Sodol ordered Azov to evacuate without the necessary artillery ammunition, and when argued why this was impossible, “against (Azov’s) commander “A formal investigation has been launched”, the criticism noted.
“General. Sodol is inadequately commanding troops, and his decisions have led to the deaths of thousands of soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, National Guard, and other defense units, resulting in a weakening of the situation at the front and a large number of soldiers. There has been a loss. Area,” Krotevich said.
Other influential figures have also questioned Sodol’s command. Ukrainian activist Serhiy Sternenko, who has nearly 2 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, wrote on X that his appointment was “a personnel crisis.” Sternenko and others have claimed that Ukrainian marines, who were ordered to attack the left warehouse of the Kherson patch, suffered disproportionate casualties.
“It’s hard to imagine a worse candidate who is (more) indifferent to the lives of soldiers,” he said.
Legislator Mariana Bezuhla, a member of the parliament’s defense committee, referred to Sodol as “a criminal” in a Facebook post and has often called on Sierski to resign. Bezuhla used to be equally important as Sirski’s predecessor, Zaluzny.
The defeat of the group of activists over domination of the ranks of the Ukrainian military comes amid a tumultuous period on the battlefield. Since February, Ukraine has lost the town of Avdiivka in the eastern part and several villages to its west. Russia also complicated the situation north of Avdiivka with an attack on the town of Chasiv Yar. And recently, Russia launched a new offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region, taking new territory close to the border.
The six-month delay in US military aid certainly contributed to the setbacks, but so did the gradual mobilization of new troops, although Ukrainian commanders later reported that equipment replenishment had fallen short.
With each setback on the front lines, Sierski has been quick to prepare changes to the staff team and fire lower-level commanders; They even disbanded an entire brigade stationed at Chasiv Yar.
Less than a month after Russia began its offensive in the Kharkiv region, Sirsky replaced Yuri Hlyushkin, who was overseeing affairs in the branch.
In recent years, infantrymen said, officers at the battalion and corporate level who question orders to secure a position when they feel it would be wise to retreat slightly have been punished or removed. Has gone. Military staff said this had resulted in low morale on the battlefield and a growing lack of confidence in senior leadership.
“I have seen how senior officers made inadequate decisions because ‘generals’ above ordered them to do so, and not being on the ground, they simply gave orders,” said the top of a drone unit, speaking on condition of anonymity. Told on the condition of. Due to the sensitivity of the subject.
He added, “It was difficult to prove that this was arrogance and stupidity, although the issue often involved moving a position by 40–100 metres, which would have increased the security of my position.”
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