Who is Marine General Hnatov, who Zelenskyy appointed after unexpectedly dismissing Marine General Sodol?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced Marine General Andriy Hnatov as the new Joint Forces commander while in frontline Pokrovsk on June 26.
He follows in the footsteps of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
NV looks at the path Hnatov took to the position and at how his appointment has been recieved.
Zelenskyy dismissed former Marine General Yurii Sodol from his position just two days earlier, a move long criticized by Servant of the People MP Maryana Bezhula (who loudly labeled him a "butcher"), and several volunteers and public activists.
The last "drop" in Zelenskyy's patience was a complaint by Azov Brigade chief Bohdan Krotevych about an unnamed general to the State Bureau of Investigation. Media immediately speculated Krotevych filed the complaint against Sodol.
Krotevych accused Sodol of a series of mistakes, beginning with his command of the defense of Mariupol in 2022, according to text of the complaint obtained by The Washington Post.
"The task for General Hnatov is obvious - to destroy the occupier and - it is very important - to protect the lives of our soldiers as much as possible," Zelenskyy said yesterday in Pokrovsk.
"A very worthy officer, I hope the news at the front will be better," Krotevych wrote about the new head of the Joint Forces.
"I can't imagine what problems he will have to sort out, and it won't happen quickly."
"He is determined, persistent, and really demanding," Holos (Voice) MP Roman Kostenko, who is personally familiar with Hnatov, told NV.
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