"Under Syrskyi’s leadership, army is being destroyed from within, turning it into organization reminiscent of ’90s organized crime group,’" - Krotevych
Bohdan (Tavr) Krotevych, former chief of staff of the 12th Special Forces Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine "Azov", has called for the issue of "inadequate leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine" by Oleksandr Syrskyi not to be allowed to fade from the spotlight. He is convinced that as soon as the dust settles, "repression and a witch-hunt" will begin against the military personnel who dared to speak out.
He wrote about this on Facebook, according to Censor.NET.
"We must not stop and let this issue fade into the background"
"We must clearly understand and make it clear that, now that military personnel have spoken out publicly about Oleksandr Syrskyi’s inadequate leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, we have no right to stand idly by and allow this issue to fade away," the soldier’s post states.
Syrskyi is responsible for the current developments within the army
Krotevych emphasised that Syrskyi bears personal responsibility for the processes that are currently undermining the army from within.
"Assault regiments, the situation in the 425th ‘Skelia’ Regiment, reports of non-combat deaths, beatings, torture and unlawful detention, the contract killing ordered by the former commander of the 155th Brigade (formerly the Chief of Staff of the 425th ‘Skelia’ Regiment), widespread self-defence incidents, and criminal cases concerning abductions and murders. These are the consequences of a command structure in which commanders feel they can act with impunity, whilst soldiers are increasingly treated as a resource with no rights. "Under Syrskyi’s leadership, the army is being destroyed from within, turning it into a structure that increasingly resembles an organised crime group from the 1990s: mutual cover-ups, fear, violence, the concealment of crimes and complete impunity for the leadership," the soldier wrote.
He is convinced that as soon as the public debate dies down, a crackdown and a ‘witch-hunt’ will begin against the military personnel who dared to speak openly about the problems – ranging from dismissal from their posts to being sent to the most dangerous sections of the front ‘with no return’.
"Syrskyi must be held accountable! To remain silent now means leaving serving military personnel to face this system on their own. Everyone must act according to their conscience," said Krotevych.
He called on people to join the protest, which is scheduled for today, 18 July, at 8.00 pm in Kyiv on Ivan Franko Square.
The new Cabinet and Fedorov’s resignation
- On 14 July, the Verkhovna Rada approved a resolution on the resignation of Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko. The entire Cabinet of Ministers resigned automatically along with her.
- On 15 July, Mykhailo Fedorov announced that he was stepping down as Minister of Defence.
- Rallies in support of Mykhailo Fedorov took place in Dnipro, Rivne, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk, Cherkasy and other cities. The participants are protesting against his resignation.
- On 16 July, the Verkhovna Rada voted to appoint the new Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The Prime Minister is Serhii Koretskyi.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that he will nominate Yevhen Khmara for the post of Minister of Defence of Ukraine. Prior to this, he had appointed Khmara to act as head of the Ministry of Defence.
- Protests against Fedorov’s resignation continued in Ukrainian cities. As well as demanding that Fedorov be reinstated as defence minister, people called for the dismissal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
- The Financial Times reported that, against the backdrop of protests in Ukraine in which participants are demanding the resignation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is considering his possible replacement.
