{"id":80450,"date":"2024-06-25T01:32:04","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T01:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/25\/zelensky-removes-a-top-general-amid-criticism-of-excessive-casualties\/"},"modified":"2024-06-25T01:32:04","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T01:32:04","slug":"zelensky-removes-a-top-general-amid-criticism-of-excessive-casualties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/25\/zelensky-removes-a-top-general-amid-criticism-of-excessive-casualties\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelensky Removes a Top General Amid Criticism of Excessive Casualties"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/24\/multimedia\/24ukranian-general-jlgk\/24ukranian-general-jlgk-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Zelensky Removes a Top General Amid Criticism of Excessive Casualties\" title=\"Zelensky Removes a Top General Amid Criticism of Excessive Casualties\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine removed one of his top generals from his post on Monday amid public criticism that the commander\u2019s decisions had led to excessive casualties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The dismissal of the general, Yurii Sodol, as commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces, was a clear indication that the discord that had <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/09\/world\/europe\/ukraine-oleksandr-syrsky-war-russia.html\" title=\"\">rankled the army<\/a> since Mr. Zelensky <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/08\/world\/europe\/zelensky-general-valery-zaluzhny-ukraine-military.html\" title=\"\">replaced his commanding general<\/a>, Valery Zaluzhny, with Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky in February, continued to threaten military cohesion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zelensky announced that he was replacing General Sodol with Brig. Gen. Andrii Hnatov.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">General Sodol was appointed by General Syrsky as part of a broader shake-up in February, and Mr. Zelensky did not say why he had dismissed the commander or what position he would now hold.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the president\u2019s announcement came after Bohdan Krotevych, chief of staff of the Azov brigade \u2014 a regiment of the Ukrainian National Guard \u2014 wrote a letter to the State Bureau of Investigation calling for an investigation into the general\u2019s conduct.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Then, just hours before the general\u2019s dismissal. Mr. Krotevych posted an unusually blunt and scathing <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/ein_fruhling_2\/378\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">open letter<\/a> on social media, implicitly accusing the general of, through his poor leadership, \u201ckilling more Ukrainian soldiers than any Russian general.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While Mr. Krotevych did not name General Sodol directly in the public letter, he suggested that all of Ukraine\u2019s forces knew to whom he was referring. \u201cEveryone in the military understands because 99 percent of the military hate him for what he does,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mariana Bezuhla, a member of Parliament\u2019s defense committee, said in a statement that Mr. Krotevych had been referring to General Sobol and that she shared his concerns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWill this continue?\u201d she said in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/marybezuhla\/1685\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a statement<\/a> on social media. \u201cDo the military have to unite on the basis of hatred for their leader? Do we really have to lose people and territory like this? Is this how it works?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Neither General Sodol nor General Syrsky could be reached for comment, and the military command had no immediate comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Krotevych wrote that he was aware that issuing such a public statement could have consequences for himself and his unit, but believed he had no choice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While soldiers are not shy about privately grumbling about decisions they consider unwise or expressing discontent with the Ukrainian military leadership, it is rare for a soldier to issue such a public rebuke of a commander.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After Mr. Zelensky\u2019s announcement, Ms. Bezuhla said that firing one person would not fix problems that run much deeper. \u201cWithout changing the principles of the system, one personnel decision will not produce anything,\u201d she said.<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After Mr. Zelensky announced that he was replacing General Sodol with General Hnatov, Mr. Krotevych wrote that the new commander was \u201ca very good officer,\u201d adding, \u201cI hope the news at the front will get better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukrainian forces have been on the defensive since the autumn and have spent months fighting to hold on to land despite being outmanned and outgunned. American military assistance was delayed by political wrangling in Washington, and political indecision in Kyiv delayed efforts to strengthen Ukraine\u2019s campaign to mobilize new troops.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Analysts have said that General Syrsky, the country\u2019s top military commander, is acutely aware of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/08\/world\/europe\/ukraine-russia-war-oleksandr-syrsky.html\" title=\"\">the criticism<\/a> that he represents an outdated \u201cSoviet\u201d way of thinking and that he is too willing to sacrifice the lives of soldiers for questionable military gains.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While he earned praise for leading two successful battles early in the war \u2014 the defense of the capital, Kyiv, and in the counteroffensive in the northern Kharkiv region \u2014 there is still widespread bitterness in some quarters about his decision to fight to hold on to Bakhmut as long as he did.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">General Sodol, who joined the military in 2003, rose through the ranks and was the commander of the Ukrainian marines before he was promoted. While leading the marines, he earned a reputation in some quarters for failing to address the concerns of his soldiers. In particular, troops under his command criticized an operation late last year to establish and hold on to a piece of land on the eastern banks of the Dnipro River that was characterized by one soldier in an interview as a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/12\/16\/world\/europe\/ukraine-kherson-river-russia.html\" title=\"\">\u201csuicide mission.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After the Azov commander issued his blistering rebuke, General Syrsky <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CinCAFofUkraine\/posts\/pfbid0BzWdDMjcFnMKvvBK6JhqUpnxp992WEKpugHX3F4BLRU5PyMHnoAY7A3PnDNjpfevl?locale=uk_UA\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">issued a statement<\/a> on social media about the importance of preserving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers, but made no mention of General Sodol or the criticism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cQuality training, effective medical care and technological advantage \u2014 we are creating a universal system for each unit, the key priority of which is to save the lives of our soldiers,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe lives of soldiers are the highest value,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Later, on Monday evening, General Syrsky met with Mr. Zelensky, and the removal of General Sodol was announced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/24\/world\/europe\/zelensky-ukraine-general-dismissed.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine removed one of his top generals from his post on Monday amid public criticism that the commander\u2019s decisions had led to excessive casualties. The dismissal of the general, Yurii Sodol, as commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces, was a clear indication that the discord that had rankled [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/24\/multimedia\/24ukranian-general-jlgk\/24ukranian-general-jlgk-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[35059,4762,19468,1032,6558,1846,8774],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80450"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80450"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80452,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80450\/revisions\/80452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}