Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he has appointed two new deputies to the army chief — leaving out some top generals. As Zelensky said in his daily video address yesterday, these are Colonels Vadim Zhukarevsky and Andriy Lebedenko. In doing so, the president placed two subordinate officers ahead of several generals as their superiors.

Zelenskyj introduced two new deputy commanders as experts. Zhukarevsky's area is autonomous systems and the development of drone use, Lebendenko's area is innovations and the technical component of military and combat systems, the president said.

New representatives

Zelensky justified the appointments with the need to promote new technologies in the army. It helps reduce losses on the frontline, the 46-year-old said. Already after the change of commander, Zelensky announced a large-scale reorganization of the leadership of the army. In fact, he transferred three deputies to the Chief of General Staff. However, in this case, he appointed three experienced brigadier generals: Volodymyr Horbatyuk, Olexij Shevchenko and Mykhailo Drapato.

Zelensky also mentioned making his own weapons and ammunition. The Chief Minister said that necessary instructions were given during the meetings. Ukraine has been plagued by ammunition shortages due to a rare flow of Western arms aid. According to Zelensky, cooperation with foreign partners is important for Kyiv.

The situation at the ends is “difficult”.

In its daily situation report, the Ukrainian Civil Service described the situation on the front lines as difficult. A total of 87 Russian storm attempts had been foiled during the day, it was said Saturday evening. Fighting has been especially fierce on two fronts near the large city of Donetsk, which has been controlled by Russian forces since 2014. Russian troops reportedly conducted two-thirds of their attacks there during the day.