Ukrainian Military Commander Fires Two Senior Officials After Losing Territory

JAKARTA - The top Ukrainian military commander has sacked two senior officers after Kyiv soldiers handed over territory in their command area, Ukrainian media reported on Monday, citing military sources.

Ukrainska Pravda, citing two senior military sources, said Ukrainian Military Commander General Oleksandr Syrskyi had ordered the dismissal of two officers in charge of the 17th and 20th Army Corps over the past two weeks. The Ukrainian Interfax news agency also reported the same thing.

Ukrainska Pravda said the 17th Army Corps, led by Volodymyr Silenko, is located in the Zaporizhzhia region, where the Ukrainian military lost at least one village on the banks of the Dnipro River.

Meanwhile, the 20th Army Corps, led by Maksym Kituhin, is based on an administrative border between the eastern Donetsk region and the central Dnipropxisk region, where Russian troops have announced a series of successes, capturing a number of villages.

Interfax reported the two officers had been transferred to another task.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense on Monday said its troops had seized the village of Olvske in the Zaporizhia region.

Vladimir Rogov, a senior Moscow-appointed official in Russia-controlled territory, told Russia's RIA news agency Moscow forces had breached Ukraine's defenses and seized about 30 square km (11.5 square miles) of the region.

As the war has been going on for more than 3.5 years, Russian troops have been involved in long and tiring attacks to the west focused on the Donetsk region, with Pokrovsk logistics center as one of Moscow's main targets.

The Ukrainian military issued a statement citing a commander in the region, Andriy Kryshchenko, who said Ukrainian forces had stopped Russia's pace near Pokrovsk.

"Everyone understands the tension has subsided and work is going quietly to crush our enemies," he said.

Separately, Ukraine's popular military blog DeepState, which uses open source maps to track troop positions, said Ukrainian troops had succeeded in fighting Russian troops near Dobropillia City, north of Pokrovsk.

Reuters was unable to independently verify reports from both sides.

In addition to the pace announced right within the Dnipropxisk region, Russian troops have also suppressed parts of Kharkiv's northeastern territory, particularly around the largely destroyed city of Kupiansk.

They have also sought to maintain a foothold in Sumy's northern border region, although President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, citing General Syrskyi, said Kyiv forces had reclaimed territory near the border.