Ukrainian President Removes Top General in Leadership Reshuffle

FILE - Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi attends a commemorative event on the occasion of the Russia Ukraine war one year anniversary, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024 he met with Zaluzhnyi and told him it's time for someone new to lead the army. Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP, File

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy replaced his top army general Thursday in the biggest leadership shake-up since Russia’s invasion two years ago.

Mr. Zelenskyy said on Thursday he had met army chief Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi and that the time had come for changes in the military leadership, but that Kyiv’s top general should remain “on his team.”

“Today we had a frank discussion about the changes needed in the army. Urgent changes … Today I have decided to renew the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in a speech on Thursday.

“The army’s actions must become much more technologically advanced. The generalship must be reset,” Mr. Zelenskyy explained.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Commander of Ukraine's Ground Forces Col.-Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, right, look at a map during their visit to the front line city of Kupiansk, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on Nov. 30, 2023. AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File

The president announced that he had appointed Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, as the army’s commander-in-chief.

Gen. Syrskyi, 58, has since 2013 been involved in the Ukrainian army’s effort to adopt NATO standards.

Mr. Zelenskyy said that 2024 would be crucial to achieving Ukraine’s goal in the war and bringing peace to the country.

“The experience of two years of this war has convinced us that it is only Russia’s defeats that bring peace closer,” Mr. Zelenskyy said.

Mr. Zelenskyy said he anticipates other changes to the Ukrainian military, such as arming each combat brigade on the front line with “effective Western weapons,” improving logistics and soldier training, and reducing the “excessive and unjustified number of personnel in the headquarters.”

He also announced the creation of a new army formation, the Unmanned Systems Forces.

Logistic Issues

Ukrainian servicemen sit in the back of military truck in the Donetsk region town of Avdiivka, on the eastern Ukraine front line with Russia-backed separatists on Feb. 21, 2022. Aleksey Filippov/AFP via Getty Images

Zelenskyy’s announcement came as the Kremlin’s forces pushed harder to take the eastern Ukraine city of Avdiivka, throwing more troops into the four-month battle and bombarding Ukrainian defenses as they stretched Kyiv’s resources.

Avdiivka has become “a primary focus” of Moscow’s forces, the UK’s Defense Ministry said in an assessment Thursday.

Mr. Zelenskyy singled out logistic problems with locating drones, an issue that surfaced during the battle of Avdiivka.

Russia’s Pravda newspaper reported Thursday that the Russian army was attempting to cut a key logistics supply route for Ukraine in the village of Lastochkyne, about 6 kilometers (4 miles) west of Avdiivka.

Reactions

At a joint press conference, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the country’s elected leader should choose its military leadership, and the United States will continue to support the Ukrainian government and military.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he confirmed with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that the shake-up of the country’s military leadership “will not affect Ukraine’s relationship with partners and with NATO.” He also expressed NATO’s continued support to Ukraine.

Born into a family of Soviet servicemen, Gen. Zaluzhnyi is credited with modernizing the Ukrainian army along NATO lines. He took charge seven months before Russia’s full-scale invasion.

According to Russian state-run news agency TASS, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Gen. Zaluzhny’s dismissal is a sign that “everything is not going well” for the Ukrainian government.

Gen. Ben Hodges, the former head of the U.S. Army in Europe, who has had several dealings with Gen. Zaluzhnyi, said that in his view, Gen. Zaluzhnyi tried to modernize the Ukrainian army and “get rid of the old Soviet-era thinking” within the army, and should “get a lot of credit” for stopping the Russian offensive, the BBC reported.

Oleksii Honcharenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament from the opposition party led by former President Petro Poroshenko, Mr. Zelenskyy’s predecessor, said the dismissal of Gen. Zaluzhny was “a huge mistake” and will pose risks for the country, according to the BBC.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.