Yuri Kobzar18:37, 06/26/24

Journalsts were able to find out the content of the complaint filed against the general with the State Bureau of Investigation.

On June 24, President Vladimir Zelensky removed General Yuri Sodol from the post of commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which he held for just over 4 months. Although the president did not give reasons, shortly before that, the chief of staff of the Azov National Guard brigade, Bogdan Krotevich, contacted the State Bureau of Investigation with a complaint against Sodol.

The Washington Post was able to access the text of this complaint and learned what exactly Krotevich accuses the general of. According to the text of the complaint, Krotevich accused Sodol of a number of mistakes, starting with the defense of Mariupol in 2022.

“Although General Sodol did not lead the defense of the city and did not spend a single hour in Mariupol, he was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine,” Krotevich wrote, adding that he did not provide the Azov brigade with ammunition and did not prepare the city’s defenses before the Russian offensive.

After a commander in the city asked Sodol for instructions, Krotevich witnessed Sodol respond, “We [were] pinched,” before hanging up.

More recently, during his command of the eastern front, Sodol ordered Azov to advance without the necessary artillery ammunition, and when arguments were made why this was impossible, “an official investigation was opened against the commander [Azov],” the complaint says.

“General Sodol is inadequately leading the troops, and his decisions have led to the deaths of thousands of servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the National Guard and other defense units, which has led to weak positions on the front and the loss of a large amount of territory,” Krotevich claims.

Sodol’s dismissal

As UNIAN wrote, Yuriy Sodol was appointed Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on February 11 of this year amid numerous reshuffles in the military command after the resignation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny.

Sodol’s appointment was criticized by many military bloggers related to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but for the general public this criticism went unnoticed for a long time. However, a loud statement by the chief of staff of the Azov brigade, Bogdan Krotevich, and his official appeal to the State Bureau of Investigation for Sodol brought the situation into the public sphere.

Commenting on Sodol’s removal from office, ex-speaker of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vladislav Seleznev noted that the information that was released to the general public is only the “tip of the iceberg.”

(C)UNIAN 2024