On Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, announced that he had visited the front-line Donetsk region and spoken with senior commanders about the military and humanitarian situation there.
Following criticism, Zelensky dismissed the head of Ukraine’s Joint Forces a few days prior to the visit. Kyiv has been struggling for months to repel Moscow’s soldiers in the east.
“I started the day in the Donetsk region, together with our soldiers, together with Commander-in-chief (Oleksandr) Syrsky and the new Commander of the Joint Forces, General (Andriy) Gnatov,” Zelensky stated from Pokrovsk, Ukraine.
The recently appointed Gnatov, he continued, was “a young man, but his knowledge of the frontline and experience are exactly what we need”.
Following accusations of ineptitude made by a well-liked military commander against his predecessor, Yuriy Sodol, the president appointed Gnatov.
Zelensky also mentioned helping the Donetsk region’s impacted communities, which have been hit hardest by the violence in recent months.
In an uncommon swipe at public servants, he stated that they “should be there and in other places near the front — in difficult communities where people need immediate solutions”.
“The fact that certain pertinent government representatives hadn’t visited in at least six months startled me. I’ll make the proper deductions for them,” he continued.