Zelenskiy again replaces commander of Ukraine’s key eastern front

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday replaced for the third time in under a year the commander of a key Ukrainian military formation responsible for defending the eastern hub of Pokrovsk that’s under increased risk of falling to Russian forces.

Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said he put Ukraine’s new commander of ground forces, Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi, in charge of the Khortytsia operational-strategic group, whose area of responsibility includes much of Ukraine’s eastern front.

“These are the toughest areas of fighting,” Zelenskiy said, adding that he had discussed the changes at meeting with Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Russia’s capture of the city would bring it closer to seizing the entire Donetsk region, which has been one of President Vladimir Putin’s key goals in his war in Ukraine.

Zelensky added that Drapatyi’s appointment will help to combine the combat work of the army with the proper training of brigades.

“It is the front-line needs that should determine the standards for staffing and training of brigades,” he said.

Drapatyi will replace Major General Andriy Hnatov, who has been in charge of Khortytsia since June and who will become a Deputy Chief of the General Staff to run training and communication.

Russian forces have been steadily advancing in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region towards Pokrovsk, bypassing it from the south and trying to cut off supply routes to Ukraine’s troops.

Pokrovsk, which had a pre-war population of around 60,000, has been one of Ukraine’s main defensive strongholds in the Donetsk region and the focus of fierce fighting for months.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Sonali Paul)