Because of the difficult situation of the Ukrainian army on the Eastern Front, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj replaced the head of the land forces after just nine months. Major General Mychajlo Drapatyj was appointed the new commander of the army. Drapatyj successfully brought the Russian offensive in the eastern Kharkiv region to a halt, the president wrote on social networks. The previous commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, Olexander Pavlyuk, was relieved of this post.

In addition, the head of state promoted Oleh Apostol, previously a colonel and commander of a brigade, to deputy supreme commander. The new appointees should increase the army’s combat capability, Zelensky said at a meeting with his military leadership in Kiev. “The Ukrainian army needs internal changes to fully achieve our country’s goals.”

Russian troops have been advancing slowly but steadily in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine for months. The Ukrainian defenders lack weapons and soldiers.