MASS DISMISSALS AND APPOINTMENTS IN LEADERSHIP OF AFU

Let me remind you that President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi and appointed a new Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi. And along with the change of the head of the Armed Forces, large-scale changes are now taking place.

There was a complete change in the General Staff team. That is the team of the Commander-in-Chief himself. The commanders of the branches of the armed forces and the commanders of the forces have also been replaced. Also, all 4 commanders of operational and strategic groups, i.e. those people who manage strategic directions at the front, have been removed. Only at the operational level, there have been no changes yet. This is the level of operational and tactical departments. So far, there has been only one replacement - a transfer from one position to another. The operational and tactical level, and in my opinion and that of the military commanders with whom I communicate, is the key level that ensures the operational management of troops, the management of brigades at the front, battalions and individual forces. So far, no changes have been made at this level. All the changes are still concentrated at the top level. But these new appointments allow us to understand what the directions of systemic changes in the Armed Forces will be, what will improve, or perhaps raise questions, or cause criticism.

17 GENERALS WERE DISMISSED FROM THEIR POSTS

At the moment, if we do not count the position of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, there have been 17 dismissals, 17 generals have been removed from their posts. In fact, all of these generals have been placed at the command and will probably be appointed to other positions. Because dismissal does not always mean that a person has been thrown out, punished or transferred to some uninfluential position. Sometimes dismissal means a transfer to another position, perhaps even a more important one.  

Mykhailo Zabrodskyi, Lieutenant General - from the position of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Yes, this is Zaluzhnyi's team. So it is obvious that this team will be changed.

YEVHEN MOISIUK WAS DISMISSED FROM THE POST OF DEPUTY COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE

Lieutenant General Yevhen Moisiuk - from the post of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Yevhen Moisiuk was actually Valerii Zaluzhnyi's right-hand man. 

It was a photo when he was still the commander of the brigade. He was a coordinator, a representative of the Commander-in-Chief in strategic areas, and held video conferences. In fact, he was the coordinator during the Kherson offensive, the coordinator in the South. In other words, he was Zaluzhnyi's right-hand man, a close confidant.

SERHII SHAPTALA WAS DISMISSED FROM THE POST OF CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE

Lieutenant General Serhii Shaptala was dismissed from the post of Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He is also a well-known person, the Chief of the General Staff is in fact the person who was in charge of all affairs, in fact, he was in charge of all administrative work in the Armed Forces.

VIKTOR BOKII WAS DISMISSED FROM THE POST OF DEPUTY CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE

Next. Lieutenant General Viktor Bokii, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has been dismissed from his post. I want to say something about this general. He is not a public figure who is talked about a lot, but I am disappointed that Viktor Bokii has been dismissed. I don't know him personally, but I know many Ukrainian commanders who speak highly of Bokiy's work, and I hope that this general will also find some decent position in the Armed Forces. Because I am always guided not by some subjective vision, but by the feedback of commanders who give results at the front, who have authority and influence in the army.

OLEKSANDR KYRYLENKO WAS DISMISSED FROM THE POST OF DEPUTY CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE

Next. Lieutenant General Oleksandr Kyrylenko has been relieved of his duties as Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This change, I think, will not cause such great disappointment. General Kyrylenko was in charge of logistics. As we know, the army always has big problems with logistics. There are big problems with logistics, with weapons. So this is an understandable change in the team.

Major General Volodymyr Koval from the post of Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is also an obvious dismissal. 

SERHII NAIEV AS COMMANDER OF THE JOINT FORCES OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE

Lieutenant General Serhii Naiev. He was the commander of the Joint Armed Forces of Ukraine. I would like to remind you that such a reform was carried out before the war. The joint forces were created. That is an attempt... the headquarters of the joint forces, the joint operational headquarters, was created. This was a body that was supposed to manage all the troops during the war, so that the commander-in-chief would have his hands free, and all operational command would be carried out from a single center. Unfortunately, the reform was carried out, but the traditions in the army and these political combinations, fragmentation, and the fact that the Supreme Commander-in-Chief decided to destroy all this logic led to the fact that the Joint Operational Headquarters is not actually working. The army was divided into several fragments. There is Syrskyi, there is Zaluzhnyi-Tarnavskyi, and this whole system is logically not working. That's why Naiev actually had the position of a non-working commander of the joint forces and at the same time, he was the commander of the operational and strategic group that controlled the north of Ukraine, on the borders in the north of Ukraine, on the borders with Russia and Belarus. And now he has been removed from his post. I think this is an evolutionary way of development. I think that the replacement, which is clear to everyone in the army, has its own logic. 

Major General Ihor Palahniuk was dismissed from the post of Chief of Staff, Deputy Commander of the Army. I don't think there will be any special problems in the army there either. I don't think Palahniuk has been dismissed. He is a person who has the trust of Oleksandr Syrskyi. So I think it's possible, quite likely, that he's just being transferred to another position.

Major General Viktor Kucherenko was dismissed from the position of the head of the main operational department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Kucherenko is well known in the army - he was in charge of personnel. He is a non-public figure. The operational department of the General Staff is obviously a replacement for the team. This is understandable.

Major General Luchnikov, the head of the General Staff of the General Staff, is also a change of team. There is also logic here.

VASYL ZUBANYCH WAS DISMISSED FROM THE POST OF COMMANDER OF THE 10TH ARMY CORPS OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES

Brigadier General Vasyl Zubanych, commander of the 10th Army Corps of the Ukrainian Land Forces. I think that in the army, General Zubanych's subordinates, who managed the defense... I would say, he did not manage the defense, but held positions in the defense management of Kharkiv, then Severodonetsk-Lysychansk, then he stayed a little bit longer in Bakhmut. And then, for some reason, after these unsuccessful actions, which, unfortunately, created a lot of conflicts and problems on the ground, he was transferred to the position of corps commander in the area of the breakthrough to Tokmak. And to put it mildly, his planning and management in that area did not bring any serious results. For me, it is a particularly bad indicator when, instead of quality planning and interaction with people, generals begin to extinguish the crisis by giving orders to company commanders and platoon commanders, i.e. interfering and breaking the command system. Unfortunately, this is General Zubanych. If we had a procedure for analyzing the aftermath in our defense forces, he would not have been appointed to such responsible positions after he had been at the Kharkiv Defense Headquarters for some time. Especially after he strangely managed the defense of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk together with Mariana Bezuhla. Unfortunately, the logic behind the movements in positions is not always clear. I think that Zubanych's subordinates will breathe a little bit of relief now. Let's see where he can be appointed. Unfortunately, we have a lot of such energetic people, leaders in the army. 

Andrii Hnatov has been dismissed from the post of commander of the Marine Corps of the Ukrainian Navy. I think this is just a temporary change. This dismissal is not aimed at removing the person from the job. I think that since Hnatov met personally with the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Volodymyr Zelenskyy, it is clear that he may be appointed to the position of commander, and the likely direction is the Marine Corps Command. That is, there is a Marine Corps. This is an administrative management structure. And then there is the Marine Corps Command, which deals directly with the combat operations of the marine brigades, and the marine brigades operate under its command. At the moment, we know that the marines are fighting on the Dnipro River, fighting at the bridgehead in Krynky, so of course there are changes there as well. The commander of the marines has been replaced. General Yuriш Sodel has been appointed to another position. There is no appointment for Hnatov yet. But we will see what happens next.

Major General Maksym Myrhorodskyi has been relieved of his duties as Commander of the Air Assault Troops. I sincerely congratulate all the paratroopers on this news, there is such a joyful revival among the air assault troops today. I will say this. I knew Maksym Myrhorodskyi as a great combat commander of the 79th Air Assault Brigade battalion. He is a real war hero. In 14-15 years, he gained real combat credibility with his courage, determination, direct participation, and command of battles from the battlefield. Unfortunately, after the start of the invasion, his methods of command in the air assault troops caused a lot of criticism among his subordinates, his methods of battle management at the company and platoon level caused very big problems in the command and led to the fact that he constantly removed commanders, and quite adequate brigade and battalion commanders. So I think that he will now be given a rest, and this will be a positive step for the air assault troops. And paratroopers are talking about this a lot today.

Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi has been dismissed from the post of commander of the troops. In fact, he was relieved of his post, it says here, Operational Command (OC) East. In fact, he is the commander of the Tavria operational and strategic grouping of troops. Everyone knows this. This is public information, not secret. That is, this direction is actually half of the front. He was also in Valerii Zaluzhny's team. And we have, as I said, Zaluzhnyi's army and Syrskyi's army on the front. That is, they compete with each other. Unfortunately, this competition has not always led to positive results. We can see that Oleksandr Syrskyi was the commander of the Khortytsia OSG (operational-strategic group). Syrskyi has now left the position of the Khortytsia OSG, and there is a vacancy there. Tarnavskyi has left the position of the commander of the Tavria OSG. This is a vacant position. Naiev has been dismissed from the northern OSG. There will be another change there. The commander of the OSG in the South has also been replaced. Mykhailo Drapatyi. He was promoted.

Major General Serhii Livtinov has been removed from the post of commander of the OC West. He was also the commander of the operational and tactical group in the southern direction. I think that many people in the army who know Major General Litvinov will not suffer because of this. He has a rather controversial biography, his career and management methods, which are quite strongly criticized in the army. I think this will not be a problem. Although, given General Litvinov's political connections and incredible hardware and administrative capabilities, I would not be surprised if he gets some kind of position, also important and significant. As we know, everything is possible in our army.

Major General Volodymyr Myroniuk will be dismissed from the position of the reserve corps commander. I can't tell you any details. I think that given the way the work in the Reserve Corps is organized, this is also a normal, logical change. It is also absolutely logical and I think there will be no questions about it.

Who was appointed to the positions.

VADНM SUKHAREVSKYI - DEPUTY COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE

What is it nice to say? Colonel Vadym Sukharevskyi - Colonel! - until recently the commander10 of an infantry brigade, has been appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In fact, this is one of the highest positions in the military leadership. Vadym Sukharevskyi needs no introduction. He is a man who has great authority in the army. This authority is not built on the fact that he has good PR, but on the fact that he is a man who has made his own biography. I am honored to have met Vadym Olehovych when he was still a senior lieutenant and was studying at the Academy in Kyiv. Vadym Sukharevskyi is the person who actually started the war and armed resistance to the Russian occupiers. It was Senior Lieutenant Vadym Sukharevskyi, the company commander of the 80th Airmobile Regiment, who was the first in the Armed Forces of Ukraine to give the order to open fire on the Russian occupiers on April 13, 2014. The Russian subversive group at that time near Sloviansk on April 13, a Russian subversive group from the FSB special forces under the command of Colonel Igor Girkin, a Russian, received an order from Moscow to start a war, and they attacked a unit of the Security Service of Ukraine, a paratrooper unit that had left near Sloviansk, was on the road, a commanders' meeting was going on. Suddenly, Russian saboteurs drove up and opened fire. At that time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces were under a strict prohibition to open fire. Sukharevskyi's company, the best company of the 80th Airmobile Regiment with armored personnel carriers, was on alert. But on the order of the regiment commander, Colonel Kopachynskyi, with the commander of the Air Assault Forces of AFU, Colonel Shvets, they forbade to fire. On the order of Commander Kopachynskyi, the machine guns in the paratroopers' armored personnel carriers were discharged. Can you imagine? No war, don't shoot. In addition, Kopachynskyi personally agitated the soldiers and said, "Do not shoot in any case, because you will be brought to trial later. 

So, when Senior Lieutenant Sukharevskyi saw that the enemy was firing, unknown people opened fire on the SSU fighters, he violated the order of his immediate commander at his own peril and gave the order "Charge, fire!". Literally, as his subordinates say, Sukharevskyi's order sounded like this: "What the f#ck are you looking at, shell the holy f#ck out of". I apologize, but this is a historical phrase. At that moment, the paratroopers opened fire. After that, the Russians retreated. They also suffered losses. In fact, Sukharevskyi saved Ukrainian soldiers. He also took two wounded SSU soldiers to the hospital in an APC at his own peril and risk. This also saved their lives. In addition to this feat, Vadym Sukharevskyi was in the most fierce battles in the most dangerous areas of the war. He went through the fiercest battles of 14, 15, 16 years. He created the famous 503rd Marine Battalion from scratch. At the beginning of the war on March 22, he again proved his high level. He took over the 59th Motorized Infantry Brigade, which had been virtually destroyed in the Kherson region, and turned it into a combat-ready unit that is now fighting with dignity south of Avdiivka. This unit is a model of effective management. Vadym Sukharevskyi's authority is unquestionable. I believe it is a great honor and a great demonstration of positive changes in the army when people of this level are promoted to the position of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Vadym Sukharevskyi is entrusted with the most important and expensive issue in the army. He will now command the unmanned systems forces. This is a new key means of warfare. Drones should be the first to go on the battlefield, reducing the losses of our soldiers and increasing the losses of the enemy. Vadym Sukharevskyi will be in charge of this now. This is really a big step forward.  

Next up. Andrii Lebedenko, Colonel, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is also an important decision here. It's about the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi. Colonel Lebedenko is the chief of communications of the Khortytsia operational and strategic group. He is a person who has great authority as a communications officer in the army. He is really a person who promotes the development of communication systems, electronic warfare systems. As Commander-in-Chief, he will be responsible for the development of innovative projects, I think, for the development of electronic warfare systems, communication systems. This is perceived by most commanders in the army as a positive sign. The fact that a competent person is appointed to the highest position in his field is also a great hope.

ANATOLII BARHYLEVYCH - CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE

Next. Major General Anatolii Barhylevych, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. All we can say is that Barhylevych was the chief of staff of the Khortytsia OSG and he was the commander of the territorial defense forces. That is, he is Oleksandr Syrskyi's right-hand man. There is nothing special to say. There are enough contradictory data. But a person who is basically... it is clear that he is the only one from Syrskyi's team. Only a person can manage the affairs of the General Staff, conduct all administrative management work. Of course, Syrskyi could only trust a person who had been with him for a long time.

Brigadier General Oleksii Shevchenko has been appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and will be responsible for logistics. There is nothing so special about Shevchenko, no such outstanding merits in the army. He has always held rear positions and attended military educational institutions. How he proved himself as a logistician, as a supply organizer, is not known in the troops. There are no such merits in war. Logistics, unfortunately, is always a completely absent professional link in the Armed Forces, a professional institutionalization of this process. And it is always not people who understand this that are appointed to this position, but some trusted persons who understand the document flow, the paperwork, and can fulfill the personal will of the leader. Therefore, I think this is a case where some kind of trust and personal acquaintance with Syrskyi most likely played a role. I cannot say anything positive about this appointment, because this person did not prove himself in the army, in the war during the invasion.

Brigadier General Volodymyr Horbatiuk, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is, in my opinion, a very positive appointment, which is very favorably assessed by most Ukrainian commanders. General Horbatiuk studied in the United States. He is fluent in English. He studied at the Institute of War in Washington. He is one of the experts on the use of automated control systems in the Armed Forces. He promotes the idea of using electronic battle planning and battle management systems. In fact, he is really an expert in this. He understands it. This is such a great hope that maybe there will be changes in this direction. Horbatiuk has no experience of independent command. But this man is considered a good staff officer in the army. He is always in staff positions. Therefore, he has not proved himself as a commander who would command a unit on his own. But since his specialization is in commanding troops, this is a good appointment. In addition, I want to say that everyone remembers one of the most famous videos at the beginning of the war, when a Ukrainian soldier is walking with an NLAW grenade launcher and our tanks are in front of him, and 3 units of Russian armored vehicles are destroyed. This is the head of the Russian column. So, this well-known video was filmed on February 26 near the village of Ivankiv on the Chornobyl-Kyiv highway. The person in the video is the one who says: "Look, here comes the general. Well, it is General Horbatiuk who is walking. To be honest, he didn't shoot with NLAW, but there was one of the battalions of the 14th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on this road. These soldiers took on a huge Russian column that stretched for several kilometers. They really stopped the Russian breakthrough for a while. They stopped this blitzkrieg. The column was marching on Kyiv from Chornobyl. There was a battle near the village of Ivankiv. I remember General Horbatiuk from that video. At that time, he was the Chief of Staff of the Volyn Operational Group, and in order to see the situation with his own eyes and make decisions, looking at the actions of our troops, he was at the very front line and met the Russian column. I respect such actions. Of course, a general is not defined by the fact that he is brave. We have brave generals who, unfortunately, .... Generals may not always feel in their place and are better at fighting with a machine gun. But Horbatiuk is a staff officer. He is an expert in control systems. This is a very encouraging appointment in combination with Lebedenko, in combination with Sukharevskyi. 

MYKHAILO DRAPATYI - DEPUTY CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE

Brigadier General Mykhailo Drapatyi, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. He will be responsible for combat training. This man inspires great confidence in me personally and in the army. I was honored to be the first to write such material about Drapatyi in 2014. On August 7, 2014, as the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade, he led the breakthrough of our units surrounded by Russians near Chervonopartizansk who were pressed to the border. Until the last, our two battalions of the 72nd Brigade fought there, trying to hold these very important positions, to cut off the communication routes of Russian troops heading to Ukraine. Drapatyi was risking his life at that time, and a very famous scandalous story happened. After exhausting all the equipment, ammunition, and water, our troops finally received an order to break back, to break through 40 kilometers along the border with Russia, one of the battalions of the 72nd Brigade decided, the commanders decided to destroy their weapons, cross the border into Russia, and thus return to Ukraine through the enemy's territory. They returned to Ukraine. But of course, Russian propaganda made the most of this event. But the 2nd Battalion of the 72nd Brigade, commanded by Major Drapatyi, decided to break through. With all the weapons and equipment, he gathered all the fighters from different units that were around him, led the breakthrough and accomplished it with minimal losses. He even took out a significant part of the surviving equipment. Then I had to write about him. I was at the front at that very moment and saw the conditions in which the 72nd was fighting. I'm pleased, it's a great honor for our army that such leaders have been promoted all this time. Drapatyi proved himself worthy everywhere. Now, in my opinion, he was a very competent, very modern and effective leader - again, I'm not talking about my own vision, but the vision of commanders at various levels. He was appointed commander of the operational and tactical group in the south. I emphasize that he proved himself in this position with great dignity. I believe that it is indeed a problem that Drapatyi will not be in the south now, because he is a competent person who can establish a control system, the use of drones and electronic warfare systems. But it is a very positive signal that such people as Drapatyi and Sukharevskyi have now been appointed to their positions, i.e. people who know how to command a war, a modern war, command combined arms units in a combat situation, synthesize decisions, and build harmony in all service units. This is the key to commanding troops in modern warfare. And Drapatyi is now a deputy in such a high position. In fact, the second... at the highest level in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is a great hope, and this is the talent pool being formed for higher positions. It is important to note and very pleasant to congratulate. I hope that the army is now being strengthened very seriously at the level of senior leadership. 

OLEKSANDR PAVLIUK - COMMANDER OF THE LAND FORCES

Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk, Commander of the Land Forces. I would like to say, friends, that Pavliuk has great respect in the army and the vast majority of commanders support his appointment to this position. There are contradictory reports about his performance as deputy minister and head of the military administration. Still, he is a military man. But as a military leader, he has authority and respect in the army. I think this appointment will definitely strengthen the ground forces and allow us to finally establish harmony there. Because we know that this division into two army headquarters, the fragmentation of management, has a very bad effect on the management of the troops. From all points of view. I am sure that this will be an improvement. And the fact that Pavliuk is appointed after Syrskyi is positive news for the ground forces, for most ground commanders. 

YURII SODOL - COMMANDER OF THE JOINT FORCES OF THE UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES

Next up. Lieutenant General Yurii Sodol, Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Again, the position of the commander of the joint forces is a position that, as I said, does not actually work in our country. That is, we have a lot of cargo cults that are not actually realized. I think that in fact this position because we have duplicate positions, we have a lot of headquarters, generals everywhere, a lot of positions, the structure of the army, the management is as confusing as possible. And with every year of war, it gets even more confusing, unfortunately. There are more and more headquarters, more and more. We actually have a joint force and the joint operational headquarters is not working, because the system of OSG, operational and strategic departments has been created. Either there will be some structural changes because in fact the existence of these OSGs is a very controversial issue. Why are they needed? From a political point of view, I still understand that there are Syrskyi and Zaluzhnyi. In fact, many brigade commanders say that, in principle, there is no need for OSGs in the presence of operational and tactical departments, it is just a bureaucratic superstructure. I think that most likely, along with this position, Sodol will be promoted to the position of commander of one of the operational and strategic directorates, just as Naiev was the commander of one. I can't say, there are many things like that... in principle, Sodol has respect in the command structure. During the war, there were many contradictory assessments of his activities. He was even removed from the post of commander of the Donetsk operational and tactical group because there were critical situations there. At the beginning, Sodol's responsibilities included managing the defense of the city of Mariupol and the defense of Volnovakha. As we know, there were big problems in those areas. And on February 24, for some reason, Captain Prokopenko, commander of the Azov detachment of the National Guard of Ukraine, spontaneously became the head of the defense of Mariupol. Because somehow the number of leaders who wanted to be surrounded decreased rapidly. Then Sodol was brought back. In principle, there are quite positive reviews of him as the commander of the Donetsk Operational and Tactical Group and the Marines, but there are also many critical ones. Again, according to the commanders, I would say that this is rather a plus appointment. In any case, he paid attention to the availability of reserves and the rotation of brigades on the defense lines where he was in charge, and he paid serious attention to the development of unmanned systems in the Marines. We know that he was the one who brought over and created the well-known drone battalion in the Marines under the leadership of Madiar. This is definitely positive news. So let's hope that the appointment is more of a plus sign. 

IHOR SKYBIUK - COMMANDER OF THE AIRBORNE ASSAULT FORCES OF THE UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES

Brigadier General Ihor Skybiuk, Commander of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I think this appointment is a compromise. For me, this is a plus appointment. Skybiuk started the war as the commander of the 80th Air Assault Brigade. A large number of the brigade's soldiers wrote to me with critical remarks about Skybiuk. But I want to tell you that the 80th Air Assault Brigade, not by the will of Skybiuk himself, but I think precisely because he was an adequate commander, at that time it was practically... I don't know of any other brigade that was actually a fire crew of the entire front. They started the war at the Shyrokyi Lan training ground. On February 24, the 80th Brigade stopped the Russian breakthrough in the south on a very large front. It acted on a huge front, deployed directly from the east, stopped Russian columns, and played a key role in stopping and defeating Russian troops in the south. Later, the 80th Brigade was deployed to Donbas and also played a critical role. I personally saw how the brigade deployed and saved Bakhmut in incredible conditions in the east. It saved Bilohorivka. It played a key role in the victory at Bilohorivka, in the defeat of Russian troops who were close to encircling our troops in Lysychansk and Sieverodonetsk on May 22. Of course, this happened with great losses. Very often, only the sacrifice and heroism of paratroopers could improve the situation. Because the 80th Brigade was thrown into places where there was no actual defense. What I saw with my own eyes was how the 80th Brigade was deployed on a very large front in early May near Bakhmut, where there was no longer any defense. The Russians attacked. And our troops, who were being redeployed from the east, were simply trying to close the missing front. Without paratroopers, without the 80th Brigade, it would have been impossible. Later, the 80th Brigade was one of our main strike formations, which played a key role in the Balakliia breakthrough. Also under the command of Skybiuk, the paratroopers entered Izium and broke through to the Russian rear. Then they advanced forward, forward, forward. These were also heroic actions. These were coordinated actions. Yes, unfortunately, this unit, the 80th Brigade, was used as a fire crew, as a strike unit. It always went where there was the greatest Russian resistance. But for me personally, I understand that maybe not everyone supports this, I think this is a plus appointment. I hope that Ihor Skybyuk, Colonel Skybiuk, will be able to establish real management and streamline the management of the Air Assault Troops. There is a lot of personnel work to be done there and management to be normalized. I hope he will be able to create harmony, interaction in different service levels, interaction in command and control and stop this interference in platoons, companies and constant changes of commanders who have no logic. I hope that now there will be order in the air assault troops. But of course, we will see. This is the highest position in this kind of troops, and a lot depends on it. Now, I think, we need to look at these actions. Again, for me personally, this is an appointment with a plus point. 

IHOR PLAKHUTA - COMMANDER OF THE TERRITORIAL DEFENCE FORCES (TDF) OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE

Next. Major General Ihor Plakhuta, commander of the territorial defense forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This appointment has caused one of the biggest waves of criticism because it is true that Ihor Plakhuta, as is now widely known, was the commander of the Northern Territorial Command of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine during the Maidan. That is, he was at the center of all the events of the Maidan. He is, of course, one of the defendants in the criminal case, the investigation. Since I was also an expert of the Prosecutor General's Office in this case, I can say that Plakhuta was not involved in the episodes with the shooting of Maidan participants. He did not appear in the episodes of the shooting of the Heavenly Hundred, in the criminal case. On February 21, he took responsibility for the withdrawal of internal troops from Maidan to their permanent locations and was in touch with the leaders of Maidan, communicated personally with Automaidan activists, organized interaction and escort of internal troops during the withdrawal from Kyiv. So, of course, I want to say that the appointment of a person who commanded the internal troops and was then transferred to some positions in the state security department to the territorial defense forces is surprising from a political point of view. This is obviously a political appointment. Plakhuta held the position of deputy commander of the Khortytsia OSG. For a long time, he was Syrskyi's deputy in the Khortytsia OSG. But Plakhuta did not prove himself as a commander of troops in this position. He was responsible for the reserves and then for a very short time he was appointed to command the Lyman Operational - Tactical Group To put it mildly, he did not win any laurels in this position and was quickly removed from office. So, to be honest, there are no reasons to put him in charge of the TDF, except for political ones. Well, okay, they decided to put him somewhere as a deputy, okay.... He has no experience, no military service. He has never commanded a combined arms unit, not even a TDF brigade. He does not know this specificity. He communicated with the Maidan activists from the other side of the barricades. Yes, he was not trying to be the biggest evil and not to tarnish the movement directly, not to be one of Yanukovych's most fierce dogs, but... now, during such events. I want to tell you, according to unofficial information from Bankova Street, from the Presidential Office, this appointment has a political coloring, for sure. Similarly, by the way, according to my information, the President's Office is also trying to get those leaders who have, let's say, maybe some normal career in the National Guard to the public security structures in the National Guard, but still have Maidan experience. I am convinced that the territorial defense forces cannot be a political tool of the Presidential Office, which is simply frightened. I understand that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Andrii Yermak, and especially Oleh Tatarov, one of the leaders of those who fought the Maidan on Yanukovych's side very actively, and now Volodymyr Zelenskyy's right-hand man, deputy head of the Presidential Office. I understand that they are terrified of the Maidan and are afraid that the government will be overthrown again. But there is no need to make it psychotic. The authorities are holding on to their positions in such a way that their asses must be burning. Therefore, instead of reason and logic, they appoint people who have no experience. A full-scale invasion has been going on for two years now, and the TDF has been fighting. There are a large number of commanders of various levels, brigade commanders, just like Sukharevskyi, who have proven themselves worthy in the war and should be given such positions. How can a person who did not command a brigade during the full-scale invasion, who does not even have experience in managing combined arms units, be put on the TDF now? This is a minus-sign appointment. I'm not even talking about the Maidan here, although I don't think anyone with such a biography is appointed to the highest positions. But professionally, this is an inadequate appointment. For me personally, this appointment is politicized, with a minus sign. This is a direct influence of the Presidential Office.  It is very disappointing, unfortunately. 

Next, the next appointment. Artem Bohomolov was appointed commander of the 10th Army Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Artem Bohomolov was in command of the Soledar Operational-Tactical Group (OTG). To be honest, if you talk to the commanders in that area, there is no positive feedback on the management methods. Commanders talk about these daily, twice-daily, long telephone meetings where they discuss a bunch of completely unnecessary management issues that are far from combat operations. For some reason, everyone has to listen whenever Mr. Bohomolov asks someone a question. Perhaps this is a good thing, good for clerical work, for some surveys in peacetime, how everyone is doing, so that people can share experiences. But during combat operations, except for the irritation of all the commanders, this does not cause any other reaction. I'm not talking about the quality of management decisions. I want to say that Bohomolov, as the commander of the OTG, is the only commander against whom one of the brigade commanders wrote a statement about his lack of staff. An internal investigation was conducted. In the end, Oleksandr Syrskyi decided not to punish anyone: neither the brigade commander nor Bohomolov. In fact, he was sent to a status position of the same level. Bohomolov came to the 10th Corps instead of Zubanych. Well... we can say that the tenth corps will not become stronger. Because of this reshuffle. But what can we do?

This is the kind of army we have, where personal connections - we don't have an after-action analysis, we don't go through NATO procedures for after-action review, no one analyzes how commanders lead. That's why we have Zubanych or Bohomolov. Perhaps he would have been a good chief of staff. But as a commander in his position, as a combat leader, he is not one for the people who work with him. Why talk about changes, about commanders who know the front? As President Zelenskyy said, we need commanders who know the frontline. This is a rather indefinite phrase. What does it mean to "know the front?" I think that when a person sits on the phone and constantly annoys someone there and makes absolutely unreasonable demands and plans something, generally having a poor understanding of the situation, preventing company and battalion commanders from being responsible for their area of responsibility, it can hardly be said that this person knows the front. On the contrary, he probably does not. But this once again shows that, unfortunately, we still do not have criteria for evaluating general commanders at the highest level. And there are differences. Some people are appointed super, because these people have authority, respect, and should be relied on. And some people are strange. It raises questions.

Major General Dmytro Deliatytskyi, the commander of the Marine Corps of the Ukrainian Navy, is basically a career marine. Everyone knows him in the marines. Now he is basically being promoted from a battalion commander in 2014 of a separate marine unit, and has already reached the corps commander. This is also a rather evolutionary movement.

Next up. Roman Huba, the commander of the Army Reserve Corps. I can't say whether the reserve corps commander has had experience... I don't think there will be any changes, to be honest. I don't think, judging by the experience I had in my position, that there will be any changes in the Reserve Corps. The Reserve Corps is actually just a part of the Army now. It's more of an administrative appointment.

These are the general appointments. If we evaluate the appointments at the highest level of the Armed Forces in general, these appointments significantly strengthen the army. Significantly so. This is an example of how positive changes can really take place at the highest level in certain areas. The people who have been appointed, I'm talking about people like Drapatyi, Sukharevskyi, Horbatiuk, are really leaders of reforms in their respective fields. A large part of the army is guided by them. So I want to say that before changing the leadership of the Armed Forces, we must pay tribute to the fact that Supreme Commander-in-Chief Zelenskyy and the trustees of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, these are other different people, we will not be specific, consulted with many people, with different experts, about who has authority. In other words, Zelenskyy tried to strengthen the appointment of Syrskyi with those who would reduce the negative perception in society about the change of Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi. We must admit that the changes will indeed strengthen the army in many areas. These are worthy changes. Of course, I must say that these changes are not final. To give a full assessment of this package of changes, we need to wait for changes at the level of operational and tactical departments. That is, at the level of command that directly manages brigades and battalions, on which the situation at the front depends.

"WE HAVE NOT SEEN ANY CHANGES IN THE COMMANDERS OF THE OTG YET"

We will wait. So far, Bohomolov has only been transferred horizontally, and his position has only been strengthened, that's all. What's next? I don't know. We have to see. But it will be possible to give a final assessment of these changes only after the situation with the commanders of the OTG is clear, so I hope that in order to get the most positive feedback, the authorities will follow through and the new Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, will show a change in quality in many areas at the level of the commanders of the operational and tactical departments. It is actually important to make changes there, in my opinion, for each OTG. It will be absolutely justified. So, dear friends, in general, I want to say that these changes are now a new team. We will now have to see what the content will be. We will see how these people will be able to work, whether they will be able to form a team for themselves. People like Sukharevskyi and Drapatyi mustn't be imposed on any apparatus or people with whom they must work. So that they have the opportunity to compare. They have an analytical mindset. They have critical thinking. So that they can understand their field. I am sure that they will understand the areas for which they are responsible and represent the quality of administration, the quality of decision-making. This requires independent powers. This requires independent capabilities. Let's see how it all goes. Such changes cause great expectations, positive expectations and hopes.

The political combination with the change of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, has caused a lot of criticism, and the work that the Supreme Commander-in-Chief has done, the Supreme Command's attitude in this case is not a negative for me. Now we will look at actions. At the appointments to the OTG. We will look at the actions and decisions of Oleksandr Syrskyi, and we will take a critical view of what is happening in the army, given the critical situation at the front, and I want to emphasize that the situation is critical. And now we should expect changes. I want to say that even if we change all the commanders of the OTU, there is a large block of issues that depend on the headquarters, on Zelenskyy himself. Neither Syrskyi nor any other generals will make a miracle unless the Supreme Commander-in-Chief organizes large-scale production of ammunition - it must be an order of magnitude larger, which is still not the case. A gunpowder factory, production of detonators, all this equipment. Unless drones are finally provided. It's cool that Sukharevskyi, the deputy commander-in-chief, is in charge of the unmanned forces. But Supreme Commander-in-Chief Zelenskyy has not yet provided funding for the production of drones. What will the new forces fight with when not a single contract for drones has been paid for 40 days of 2024? Not a single one. Why then do we need to hype this story, we will buy millions of drones, is everything fine? Who is this show for, if no practical work is being done? The actual fulfillment of contracts is disrupted. This is an example of poor planning. And not on the part of the military, but on the part of the Headquarters of the Supreme Command, President Zelenskyy, who says words that are not backed up by deeds. Therefore, there will be no miracle if the state does not provide, and the president is responsible for this, not just the military.

The third block is mobilization. According to the law on mobilization, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is primarily responsible for conducting mobilization. He has not yet - neither he, nor the Servants of the People, nor the ruling party - developed a new law. They do not provide the necessary number of recruits to the army. They will not allow rotations. It's up to the government to conduct rotations. If there are no people, then how can they conduct them? Trained people must go to the front. For this purpose, people must be mobilized in advance. There must be a training program. Then people won't get tired, die quickly, get wounded, or suffer psychological trauma. Again, this depends on the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Not on the military. Without a new law on mobilization, they will not be able to get people off the street. This is again a matter of planning.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

General Naiev said that he learned about his dismissal from the press. How do you assess this level of communication?

You know, it's a shame. There is a lot of critical attitude towards Naiev in the army at the level of commanders. He is not popular at the level of brigadiers and combatants, but it is very undignified to dismiss a person from his position simply by a press report. The reason is that Volodymyr Zelenskyy the president, is trying to pin the loss of southern Ukraine on Serhii Naiev. That is, there is a criminal case of the State Bureau of Investigation, where the highest-ranking person summoned for interrogation is Serhii Naiev. And for some reason, investigators did not take testimony from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, why he did not allow the mobilization of the operational reserve, the deployment of territorial defense troops. Why did he declare martial law only at 5:00 a.m. on February 24, and not in advance, at least when Russian troops were already deployed on the border? It's not Naiev who is responsible for this. Zelenskyy is responsible. Yermak, who lied until the last moment that there would be peace with Russia, don't worry, everything is fine. The head of the Presidential Intelligence Committee, Demchenko, lied that Russia would not attack. Defense Minister Reznikov lied on February 21, three days before the invasion, that there were no Russian strike groups, don't panic. The entire Servant of the People faction lied that Western media and leaders were simply destabilizing the situation in Ukraine, don't panic. So why these people are not called in for an interview, but only Naiev, the question arises. That's why they want to leave Naiev holding the bag for the rapid loss of the South, for the lack of any defense there, and for the fact that the bridges there were not blown up in advance, or at least not with the first shot. That's all. Why weren't bridges blown up anywhere else in Ukraine? Who had to give the order? The military cannot do this without martial law. In this chain of those who should be responsible for the loss of the South, and not only the South, but also for the rapid breakthroughs to Kyiv in one day and in other directions. This is not Naiev. We need to start interrogating Zelenskyy. After the change of power, this will definitely happen. Therefore, Naiev will not be at the top of this list of those responsible. 

Is there time to reform the Armed Forces now?

We constantly have a narrative that reforms cannot be carried out during a war. World history shows that all reforms are effective and accelerated only during war. If the state is really interested in winning. And if the state is not interested in victory but is afraid of something, a new Maidan or something else, or Yermak continues relations with Russia, or Zelenskyy is scared of someone and only looks at sociology with ratings, then it is really difficult to fight. Indeed, we need reforms. The political leadership of the country must implement reforms. Because reform depends not only on the military. It depends on planning the country's resources. The political authorities are responsible for the distribution of resources. Of course, the reform of the Armed Forces should be based on the fact that there is a clear planning of resources: mobilization, production of ammunition, weapons, drones. All this should be created by the government.

What do you think of General Muzhenko? Zaluzhnyi thanked him for his help

Nothing has changed for me. I believe that the fact that we had such Soviet-type generals in charge of the army, we have developed such institutions and traditions that are not optimal in Ukraine, this tradition of interfering in the management of platoons and companies, as it was under Muzhenko, who personally led the battle in Debaltseve in '15, or at the Donetsk airport personally with a company, instead of leading at the operational strategic level. This kind of chaos continues now, when we have a significant number of generals who want to command, give orders to platoon so-and-so to gather, move to such-and-such positions, hold on, or adjust the fire of one gun. Unfortunately, this tradition of control of everything, which is harmless in peacetime but absurd, is very harmful in wartime. That is why we must respect General Muzhenko as a person who has been in charge of the Armed Forces for a long time. At the same time, there was a part of normal evolutionary processes when good people, heroic people, were promoted. General Muzhenko should be respected for this. But, unfortunately, this style of management in the army, as this war has shown, is unacceptable. I'm not talking about Ilovaisk anymore. It's just in general. Debaltseve, Donetsk airport.

Zaluzhnyi, of course, has his own vision. He became a general under Muzhenko and was promoted. Under Khomchak, he was appointed head of the operational command. He grew and, of course, he is grateful, obviously, to some extent, to all those who helped him.

Why is Plakhuta not lustrated?

By the way, I don't know. In fact, he really should be lustrated. By the way, this is a very good question. Indeed, he was the head of such a structural unit. The only thing is that we had a law passed, I think in 2016, which allows even lustrated leaders to be appointed if they go to military positions. Most likely, this law was used here to appoint Plakhuta. In this case, there are most likely legal grounds for it. The law is used in very different ways in Ukraine. There are no exceptions only for civilians, those who are appointed to civilian positions, where lustration has no exceptions. For military positions, such exceptions were made. As we can see, unfortunately, it was a wrong practice to build such loopholes for everyone, and we see that it continues.

Will they be allowed to manage or will the President's Office again be in charge?

This is a very important question. Because the President's Office has created this absurd and very harmful for the army, for the war, double vertical of Zaluzhnyi and Syryskyi. There is also the Budanov vertical, the Special Operations Forces vertical, the Air Assault Forces vertical, the Air Forces vertical. And everywhere the Office gave some direct commands, decided something, and of course, they were constantly interfering with the logistics forces. Yermak was always there with his contracts, and he was always very interested in what logistics was buying. I really hope that this shameful practice will at least decrease under Syrskyi. There is no more confrontation. It's no longer Syrskyi-Zaluzhnyi-Syrskyi. I hope that at least one person will be given full responsibility. Believe me, if one person has all the responsibility, it will significantly improve the situation in the Armed Forces.

What will happen to the previous generals? Will they all be discharged or will they continue to work?

You know, we have so many leadership positions in the army that I think most of them will find some kind of position. We have a lot of leadership positions. I think that only some of them will be completely dismissed, but most of them, I think, will find some positions somewhere. We don't know anything yet, we'll see.

Do you have any insight into Zaluzhnyi's future military career? What is Prokopenko-Redis doing now?

I have no insight into Zaluzhnyi's career. I don't know, to be honest. It will be a personal decision of Valerii Zaluzhny. I don't know what he thinks about it. What does Prokopenko-Redis do? He is at war. He is the commander of the 12th Brigade of the Azov National Guard, now in the Serebrianskyi Forest in a very important area.

Maybe Naiev is being prepared as a scapegoat for the second anniversary of the start of the full-scale war?

This is quite a possible scenario, although I have already said that it is unfair. Because this is a biased investigation. What the SBI is doing is a political investigation ordered by the government to absolve Zelenskyy, Yermak and Demchenko, who are actually responsible for the loss of the South and other shameful and brutal defeats of the initial period of the war, which, unfortunately, we suffered because the government sabotaged preparations for the country's defense. I don't know what they were counting on, but this is just crazy.

How do you feel about the possible transition of power after Zelenskyy's term ends?

I answer a lot of political questions. I can tell you, there is no politics right now. Elections exist only in the sick imagination of the Presidential Office, because they live in their own world, far from the war. The fact that they go to the front to take pictures with heroic soldiers does not mean that they are interested in the war for even 5% of their time. They are engaged in politics. For us, as a society, to get to politics, we need to actually stop the enemy. We have a critical situation on the frontline. We need to be engaged in the war. We need to think about the war. There are no political plans now. It is impossible at the moment. Therefore, dear friends, there is only war in our country now. I don't want to waste time on politics.

We heard a lot of positive news. In terms of personnel changes, there is a significant increase in the army's capabilities in some areas. I hope that all these people will be given the opportunity to form their own team. They will be independent in their decisions in their area of responsibility. I hope that responsibility in the army will not be scattered, fragmented and broken, as it has been until recently. Let's see and hope for better changes. Today, more than ever, I am confident in our victory. Glory to Ukraine!