There have been important personnel changes in the Ukrainian army. Yesterday, the president dismissed the commander of the Unified Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Yuriy Sodol. Find out what the probable reason for the dismissal is and who became the new commander

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Lieutenant General Yuriy Sodol from the post of Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov was appointed in his place. We tell you why this is important and what scandals preceded it.

"I have decided to replace the Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Yuriy Sodol, with Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov," Zelensky said in his address to Ukrainians yesterday.

At the same time, the president announced his decision without giving any details.

Who is Sodol and why did the military want him to be dismissed?

Yuriy Sodol holds the rank of lieutenant general, and after large-scale personnel changes in early 2024, when Zelensky removed Valeriy Zaluzhny from the post of commander-in-chief, Sodol took the place of another general, Serhiy Nayev, and became the new commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Immediately after the appointment, the military criticised Zelensky's decision, saying that Sodol was not treated well by the troops, to put it mildly. Some military telegram channels even called him a "butcher" and blamed him for the heavy losses of the Ukrainian army in the Kherson sector.

The story was smoothed out until recently. The other day, MP Mariana Bezuhla accused the commander of the Joint Forces of breaking through russian troops near Toretsk.

"Another crime committed by the head of the Eastern Front, General Sodol, is the breakthrough to Toretsk. We have now lost the positions we have held since 2014. Intelligence warned us about this. The day before the possible breakthrough, Sodol withdraws his brigade and deploys a unit that has already suffered losses and has reduced combat capability. Events develop in such a way that there are no prepared fortifications near the road again! Fighting in Shumy," she wrote.

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Bezugla added that the headquarters are hiding information, and the general's actions indicate not only criminal negligence but also deliberate damage to the state, which makes him an enemy accomplice.

But a more serious statement was made by the chief of staff of the Azov brigade, Bohdan Krotevych, who said on his Telegram channel that he had filed a statement with the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) calling for an investigation into the combat general. Krotevych did not name him, but expressed his opinion about this person:

"This person launches investigations against commanders who are advancing and not losing ground, but he does not initiate internal investigations against himself," he wrote.

In addition, Krotevych said, in his personal opinion, this general "killed more Ukrainian soldiers than any russian general". He added that "99% of the military hate him for what he does".

The Azov officer said that he resorted to media publicity because he understood that this was the only way to change the situation. He also added that he had tried to resolve the situation from within before.

"The only thing I will always be ashamed of is that I didn't do it sooner. Fate helps the brave, and some creatures are helped by the fact that most are silent because they understand the consequences of a 'personal vendetta' against them and their units," the military stressed.

Later, Ukrayinska Pravda reported that Krotevych had filed an application with the State Bureau of Investigation calling for an investigation into the commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Yuriy Sodol.

The SBI also confirmed that such an application existed and added that investigators were working on it.

Sodol was fired. But who will replace him?

Sodol's place will be taken by Brigadier General Hnatov, who has already received many compliments from the Ukrainian army. 

Hnatov was most recently the Chief of Staff - Deputy Commander of the troops of the Operational Command "South" of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was also the commander of the Primorye military command (Odesa direction).

In 2018, with the creation of the Ukrainian Marine Corps Command, he was appointed Commander of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade, which he leads until 2021.

Hnatov graduated from the Kharkiv Institute of Tank Troops.

We remind you! After a long ban, the Azov Brigade received permission from the United States to use American weapons at the front. The ban on arms supplies was linked to the Dashing Law. What this law is and why it was applied to Ukrainian defenders, we tell you here.

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