Ukraine’s top military commander, Colonel General Ruslan Khomchak, is to leave the post. President Volodymyr Zelensky fired him by his decree on July 27.
He will be replaced with Major General Valeriy Zaluzhniy, currently in charge of the country’s military district North.
“Volodymyr Zelensky has no doubts about Ruslan Khomchak’s patriotism, loyalty to military oath, and professional skills,” said presidential spokesman Serhiy Nikiforov. “But the president wants to see the synergy between the Defense Ministry and the Armed Forces. Unfortunately, we’re not seeing this synergy.”
According to the president’s office, Khomchak is going to be appointed as the first deputy secretary at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
Khomchak’s dismissal follows months of fierce conflict with Defense Minister Andriy Taran. The two waged a long legal battle challenging each other’s decisions and authority, and also avoided any personal contacts.
According to multiple sources, the war between the defense minister and the head of the Armed Forces paralyzed the decision-making in defense and security, in many ways due to poor separation of areas of authority between the sector’s two top officials. The general’s dismissal seems to indicate Taran’s victory in the strife.
Zelensky appointed Khomchak as the top Armed Forces leader shortly after becoming president in May 2019. Khomchak is best known for his role in the ill-fated Battle of Ilovaisk in August 2014, when a large group of Ukrainian forces was surrounded and slaughtered by invading Russian regular forces, which led to at least 366 Ukrainian soldiers being killed.
Khomchak and a handful of surviving soldiers managed to escape the deathtrap in Ilovaisk, but the general faced criticism over his battlefield leadership.
His successor Major General Zaluzhniy, 46, also a battlefield commander of Donbas, served in charge of the North Command since late 2019.
