[Regnum] The commander of the ground forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Oleksandr Pavlyuk was dismissed from his post by the head of the Kiev regime Volodymyr Zelensky, who appointed the commander of the Kharkiv group of forces, General Mykhailo Drapatiy, to this position. This was reported on November 29 in the Telegram channel of the Ukrainian leader.
In addition, Zelensky appointed Colonel Oleh Apostol as the new deputy commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrsky. As the head of the Kiev regime explained, the personnel changes were made following a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's headquarters together with Syrsky. The reasons for the dismissals were not given.
“The main task is to significantly increase the combat capability of our army, ensure the quality of training of military personnel and introduce innovative approaches to managing people in the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Zelensky explained the personnel decisions.
Later, the head of the Kyiv regime published decrees on the appointment of Drapatiy and the dismissal of Pavlyuk.
In Russia, Drapatiy was put on the wanted list in September 2023. He was charged in absentia in connection with the fact that under his command, the Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out more than 70 shellings of populated areas of the DPR and LPR. As a result of the shelling, 154 people were killed and wounded. In May of this year, he was again put on the wanted list.
Earlier, Regnum reported that on September 20, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov fired two deputy heads of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) Kirill Budanov (included in the list of terrorists and extremists by Rosfinmonitoring) without his knowledge. It was claimed that the decision was made in the office of the head of the Kiev regime in order to weaken Budanov's position.
In November, former Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, retired General Serhiy Krivonos, suggested that Syrskyi could face imminent dismissal. He made this conclusion due to criticism of the military leader by MP Maryana Bezuhla, whom the Ukrainian authorities use as a "litmus test" of public opinion.