Lieutenant General Yuriy Sodol was dismissed from the post of Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He will be replaced by Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this on the evening of Monday, June 24, in a video message .
“We also discussed personnel issues in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I decided to replace the commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Yuriy Sodol, with Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov,” he said, talking about the meeting with the military.
Let us remind you that earlier the State Bureau of Investigation received a complaint against the commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yuriy Sodol. The chief of staff of the Azov National Guard brigade, Bohdan Krotevych, asked to check the activities of the lieutenant general.
According to our sources, the lieutenant general is accused of exceeding his official authority and incompetent command of troops, which led to the loss of a large part of the territory of Ukraine. In addition, they are asked to check the commander for the fact of cooperation with the enemy.
Yuriy Sodol was appointed to the post of commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine instead of Sergei Naev on February 11, 2024 - the changes occurred after the dismissal of Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi.
Prior to this, Sodol served as commander of the marine corps in the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. From the first days of the large-scale Russian invasion, he was responsible for the defense of one of the most difficult sectors of the front. In particular, Sodol took part in the battles near Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, in the defense of Mariupol, and in 2023 he led the operational-tactical group in the Ugledar direction.
Who is Andriy Hnatov
Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov is the deputy commander of the troops of the operational command "South".
In 2016-2018, he was the chief of staff of the 36th separate marine brigade, and in 2018-2021, he was the commander of the 36th separate marine brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Bilinskyi.
In 2022, he became chief of staff and deputy commander of the troops of the operational command "South" of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In June 2022, he received the rank of brigadier general.