Following reports of high casualties in the Ukrainian armed forces, President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Lieutenant General Yuri Sodol from his post.
Sodol will be replaced by Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov, Zelensky said in his video message broadcast in Kiev on Monday evening. He did not give any reasons for the dismissal.
The presidential office in Kiev published a decree by Zelensky on the change of personnel in the United Forces.
However, the chief of staff of the controversial Azov Brigade, Bohdan Krotevych, had previously filed a complaint against Sodol, according to the media. He accused the commander of negligent orders that had led to major casualties.
"He has killed more Ukrainian soldiers than any Russian general," wrote Krotevych on Facebook, without naming Sodol. At the same time, he demanded that the lieutenant-general be investigated for possible collaboration with Russia.
According to the media, there were accusations against Sodol, not least in the Supreme Rada, the parliament in Kiev, that he had poorly prepared Ukrainian soldiers for missions - for example in the embattled Kharkiv region.
In his video message, Zelensky condemned a Russian missile attack on the city of Pokrovsk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Four people were killed and dozens more were injured, the Ukrainian leader said.
He announced a retaliatory strike following the Russian attack. "Our response will be completely fair," Zelensky said.