Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sacked the commander of the Joint Forces Command following allegations that he caused mass casualties in the ongoing war on the Russia front. Zelensky declared Monday (Jun 24) that Lt Gen Yuriy Sodol had been replaced by Brig Gen Andriy Hnatov. He didn’t give any reason for the shake-up but observers are linking it with grave allegations levelled by Bohdan Krotevych, the leader of Ukraine’s revered Azov regiment.>>>CONTINUE FULL READING HERE
A few days ago, Krotevych took to the Telegram messaging app and claimed that an unnamed general “has killed more Ukrainian soldiers than any Russian general”, in a veiled reference to Sodol.
“All the military personnel now understand who I am talking about because 99 per cent of the military hate him for what he does,” he added.
He also appealed to Ukraine’s State Bureau of investigation (SBI) to investigate Sodol’s activities.
Reacting to the new appointment, Krotevych said “Hnatov is a very good officer. I hope the news at the front will get better.”
Sodol was appointed as the commander of the Joint Forces Command in February 2023 amidst a controversial military reshuffle that came after relations between Zelensky and a popular commander, Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, got strained.
Sodol’s exit follows several key changes in military leadership. He was in charge of Ukraine’s eastern and southern land forces, which were directly dealing with Russian assault.
His dismissal has been lauded by several military observers in the country.
Illia Ponomarenko, the former defence reporter at the Kyiv Independent, said Sodol was as an “extremely unpopular high-ranking military commander with a notoriously gruesome service”.
Additionally, both the European Union and the US have announced more military aid to the war-torn nation. EU said Monday a first tranche of up to $1.5 billion in military aid was on its way to Kyiv, sourced from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets.
Watch: Russia-Ukraine war: Russian strikes damage Ukrainian power grid
The US is also sending an additional $150m in munitions to Ukraine.
(With inputs from agencies)
Geopolitical writer at WION, follows Indian foreign policy and world politics, a truth seeker.>>>CONTINUE FULL READING HERE
