New internal earthquake in the Ukrainian army. The commander of the Azov brigade, Bogdan Krotevich, published a statement on Telegram on June 23 announcing that he had reported to the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR, the Ukrainian secret services) Lieutenant General Yuri Sodol, commander of the Joint Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Krotevich calls on the DBR to investigate an abuse of power by Sodol, incompetence in his command and even his possible collaboration with the enemy. Sodol was removed from his position this Monday by order of the president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Krotevich’s denunciation caused a political earthquake and deepened the fracture that exists in the Ukrainian army after the replacement of Valeri Zaluzhni as commander in chief of the Armed Forces. Zelensky fired Zaluzhni in February after months of friction and replaced General Oleksandr Sirski in his place. Zaluzhni had broad support in the military establishment, unlike Sirski, who is considered to be above all loyal to the president. Sodol was elevated in February by Sirski to the position of commander of the Joint Forces. His dismissal, just four months later, is a setback for the leadership of the top commander of the Ukrainian army. Sodol is replaced by Brigadier General Andrii Gnatov. Zelensky’s order does not specify the reasons for the relief.
An act of internal military rebellion of such caliber in Ukraine can be carried out by few people, and one of them is Krotevich. The Azov brigade is part of the National Guard (within the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) and is one of the best regiments in the defense of Ukraine. But Azov is not just that: it is the main political organization of the Ukrainian far-right and has close ties with other top-level military brigades.
That Zelensky fired Sodol within 24 hours is proof of Azov’s weight, but so are the very harsh words that Krotevich wrote against the lieutenant general: “I have requested the DBR to investigate a general who, in my opinion, has killed “more Ukrainian soldiers than any Russian general.” “It is unacceptable that combatants or brigade commanders be judged for losing a position or an observation point,” Krotevich added, “but this general should not be judged for losing entire regions, dozens of municipalities and for losing thousands of soldiers.” . According to the Azov officer, “99% of the military hate him [a Sodol] for what it does”.
Sodol has assumed top-level responsibilities during the Russian invasion, such as the defense of Mariupol or the leadership of the Ukrainian Marine Corps. Since May she was the highest authority in the Khortitsia Strategic Operations Group, which coordinates military actions in the province of Kharkiv and part of Donetsk province. In recent months she had received attacks from prominent opinion leaders who have accused her of defeats such as the loss of the municipality of Toretsk (in Donetsk). She has also been criticized for decorating the mayor of Odessa, Gennadiy Trujanov, on June 22, whom the most nationalist sectors of the country consider to be pro-Russian.
The case of Sodol is also proof of the nerves that dominate the Ukrainian political and military field due to the impossibility of pushing back the invader. Kremlin troops are advancing on the Pokrovsk front and in May opened a new battle scene north of the city of Kharkiv, on the border with the Russian province of Belgorod. Sirski’s forces have been able to contain the enemy in this sector of the war, thanks to the incorporation of units that were in reserve and the arrival of Western weapons. But the offensive in Kharkiv also took out another general, Mijaílo Drapatii, who was the commander of the defense of the province. This was replaced by Yuri Galushkin.
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