Ukraine's military chief is putting soldiers at risk and must go, says ex-commander

A high-profile former Ukrainian commander has called for the head of the country's military to step aside, accusing him of a lack of strategic imagination and putting Ukrainian soldiers' lives at risk with "borderline criminal" orders.

- Dan Sabbagh

Bohdan Krotevych, who quit as the chief of staff of the Azov brigade in February partly so he could speak out, said he believed the armed forces commander, Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, "must go" and Ukraine's military leadership must be shaken up.

The veteran complained in an interview that Syrskyi and the existing leadership were engaged in "manual micro-management of the whole army" and highlighted orders given to soldiers and units forcing them to rest and set up base too close to the frontline.

Krotevych said: "I started receiving from the high army command, from the commander in chief HQ, orders that became more and more borderline criminal, which I, in my good conscience, was unable to fulfil and follow."

One of Ukraine's best-known soldiers, Krotevych, 32, served in Azov from 2014 and survived the last stand at the Azovstal steelworks in spring 2022. Captured by Russian forces, he endured a short period of captivity before being exchanged.

Krotevych then chose to return to the front, and became increasingly outspoken during his final period of military service, openly criticising other commanders who he believed had been careless with soldiers' lives.