Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday appointed Hennadiy Shapovalov as the new commander of the country's land forces, as Kyiv continues to fight back against the Russian onslaught.
Shapovalov, whose appointment was announced in a presidential decree, had previously acted as a liaison at a NATO coordination centre in Germany. Before that, he had served as commander of the forces of the Operational Command South.
The reshuffle in the army came after previous commander, Mykhailo Drapatyi, asked to be dismissed earlier this month. Drapatyi took responsibility for the deaths of twelve soldiers killed in a Russian missile attack on a military training ground in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region.
Zelenskyy, speaking later in his nightly video address, said Shapovalov's experience in working with NATO would be put to good use in introducing changes in Ukraine's forces.
"All this useful experience of this coordination and all the real combat experience of our soldiers must be applied now within Ukraine's land forces," he said.
"Changes are needed and this is an imperative."
Zelenskyy reassigned Drapatyi to the post of commander of the joint forces as part of a military shakeup.
Ukraine is struggling to hold off Moscow's forces more than three years into Russia's invasion.
Moscow's forces have been advancing across the front line for over a year and have been making inroads in Ukraine's Sumy region, which the Kremlin had not occupied since the start of the war.
Peace talks on ending the conflict have stalled in recent weeks and Kyiv's biggest ally, the U.S., is now focusing its attention on the Middle East.
Russia says it is open to a peace settlement but Kyiv has accused Moscow of deliberately sabotaging talks to prolong the fighting.
Earlier on Thursday, the military governor in Dnipropetrovsk said a 59-year-old man died after suffering a severe injury in an overnight Russian drone attack. Four others were injured in the attack, he said on Telegram.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported attacks by 104 armed and decoy drones, with 88 of them shot down or rendered harmless by electronic means.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported downing 85 Ukrainian drones over 11 regions and the Crimean Peninsula.
Aviation authority Rosaviatsiya said that movements at the Kaluga, Volgograd, Saratov, Ivanovo and Orenburg airports had been halted temporarily for reasons of safety. Ukrainian drone attacks regularly disrupt air travel in Russia.
