Former Joint Forces Commander Sodol is responsible for defence preparations in Kharkiv Oblast, Azov chief of staff tells investigators

Lieutenant General Yurii Sodol, the former Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as the head of the Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group, is responsible for preparing the defence before the repeat Russian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast in May 2024. Source: a Ukrainska Pravda article, The first change in Syrskyi's team: Why Sodol was dismissed and what to expect from Hnatov Details: Ukrainska Pravda has obtained access to a letter that Bohdan Krotevych, Chief of Staff of the Azov Brigade of the National Guard, sent to the State Investigation Bureau of Ukraine (SBI) and has published its key points.

In the letter, Krotevych says Sodol did not spend a single hour in the now occupied city of Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast and gave orders that ran counter to the deployment points of the Azov regiment and the 36th Marine Brigade.

Specifically, Krotevych said Sodol had ordered the 36th Brigade to break through to the Azovstal steelworks and ordered Azov to break into the Illich Iron & Steel Works, even though at the time, Azov was closer to Azovstal and the marines to the Illich plant. Krotevych also states that Azov did not receive "a single extra cartridge prior to the defence of Mariupol", and that fortifications in the city had not been built due to problems with Sodol's communications with the local authorities. Moreover, he says, during the encirclement of Mariupol there was absolutely no interaction with units that were not part of the Mariupol garrison, meaning that various units were at risk of suffering friendly fire.

Quote from the article: "The Lieutenant General commands the troops 'inadequately', and his decisions have led to the deaths of 'thousands of soldiers' from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, and other units of the Defence Forces.

As the Commander of the Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Group, Sodol is responsible for the preparation of the defence before the repeat Russian offensive on Kharkiv Oblast." Details: In his letter to the SBI, Krotevych also stated that after being appointed Commander of the Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Group, Sodol started giving "unclear orders" to the 12th Brigade of the National Guard about deployment on lowlands and advancing a few metres in a short period of time without sufficient ammunition. However, a senior Defence Forces official told Ukrainska Pravda that Sodol was supported as Joint Forces Commander by both Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and the General Staff as a whole.

Another Ukrainska Pravda source in the Marines added that Sodol even enjoyed Zelenskyy's favour, despite having supported his political opponent Petro Poroshenko.

Quote from a source in the General Staff: "He worked like this [trying to fulfil all the tasks set by the top command at any cost - ed.] to receive and justify this support."

Background:

• On 24 June President Volodymyr Zelenskyy replaced Lieutenant General Yurii Sodol, Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with Brigadier General Andrii Hnatov.
• Bohdan Krotevych, the Chief of Staff of the Azov Brigade of the National Guard, filed a request with Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) calling for an investigation into Lieutenant General Yurii Sodol, Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, due to heavy personnel losses.

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