Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has replaced the commander-in-chief of the armed forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi
The post will be filled by Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi - a seasoned battle commander who led the defence of Kyiv at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022
The move marks the biggest change to Ukraine's military leadership in two years
President Zelensky said he expected a detailed plan for the armed forces this year, taking into account the real situation in the war with Russia
Zelensky said he had thanked Gen Zaluzhnyi for defending Ukraine for two years and proposed that he remained part of the team
The general acknowledged there were now new challenges and said everyone must adapt to change
We're now hearing from the new army chief himself, as General Oleksandr Syrskyi says Ukraine will continue to defend itself under his leadership.
Syrskyi says Ukraine's goals "remain unchanged", as they work on holding their positions, holding their territory and "exhausting the enemy by inflicting maximum losses".
"We are doing it on a daily basis," the new general adds.
Image source, VALENTYN OGIRENKOReplacing Valerii Zaluzhnyi, is General Oleksandr Syrskyi. He has been acclaimed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as having experience of both defensive and offensive warfare.
He led the defence of Kyiv at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion back in 2022.
Syrskyi was also the mastermind behind Ukraine's surprise and successful counter-attack in Kharkiv in the summer of 2022, and has since been serving as the head of military operations in eastern Ukraine - which is one of the two main axes in Ukraine's counter-offensive.
As reported by Reuters, the new general was born in July 1965 in Russia's Vladimir region, which was then part of the Soviet Union.
He has lived in Ukraine since the 1980s and became the head of Ukraine's land forces in 2019.
Syrskyi has previously said that his priority is the morale of his troops - whom he is regularly pictured visiting on the front lines.
Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockSenior Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak has given the following reasons for replacing Ukrainian military leadership.
In a post on Telegram, he says the decision was made "to review tactics which failed to fully provide a proper result last year" and "to prevent stagnation along the front line, which negatively affects public moods".
He continues: "To find new functional and hi-tech solutions which would make it possible to retain and develop initiative" on the battlefield.
Podolyak also highlights the "importance to start the process of reforming command principles in the army".
Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent
General Valerii Zaluzhnyi was facing a huge challenge to transform Ukraine’s military into a modern NATO military machine. The Defence analyst and expert Justin Crump says it was a near impossible task.
Not least, he says, because Ukrainian soldiers were often only given a few weeks of Western training.
Zaluzhnyi may have been a post-Soviet era general, but he was still heavily influenced by it.
In one of his rare interviews with Western media, Zaluzhnyi told Time magazine: “I was raised on Russian military doctrine, and I still think that the science of war is all located in Russia.”
But he quickly looked to NATO and the West to train, rebuild and restructure his armed forces.
He was soon given credit for turning away from the top heavy, hierarchical old Soviet military structures to more nimble Western style command.
Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockFollowing news of the army chief's departure, Ukraine's defence minister Rustem Umerov thanked General Valerii Zaluzhnyi for his service.
Umerov said Zaluzhnyi "had one of the most difficult tasks - to lead the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the Great War with Russia".
The defence minister, who stepped into he role in September last year, said battles fought in 2022, 2023 and 2024 "are three different realities" and as a consequence "new approaches, new strategies are needed".
Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent
Speculation that Ukraine’s popular military chief, General Zaluzhnyi, was on his way out has been swirling for months. That in itself has been damaging. Strains at the top do not bolster morale at home or abroad.
Confirmation of General Zaluzhnyi’s removal will not immediately resolve the crises either – with Ukraine now struggling on the battlefield. It has shortages of both ammunition and manpower.
Removing Zaluzhnyi as commander-in-chief, but keeping him as part of the team may be politically astute for President Zelensky. Some opinion polls suggest his General was more popular than the President.
We know only a little about why President Zelensky has decided to make a change at the top. Remember, that Zaluzhnyi was hand picked for the job by him in 2021 – ahead of more senior officers.
Zaluzhnyi had already proved himself in battle as a commander in Eastern Ukraine – fighting pro-Russian separatists from 2014.
But the reality is that it is the President’s prerogative to appoint who he wants as leader of the nation’s military.
General Ben Hodges, the former head of the US Army in Europe says “when it becomes apparent that the government has lost confidence in you, it is your duty to step down because of the principle of civilian control over the military”.
Nadia Ragozhina
Live reporter
Hello and welcome to our live coverage, as we bring you the news that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sacked the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
General Zaluzhnyi's dismissal follows much speculation about a rift between the general and the president.
It is the biggest change to Ukraine's military leadership since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
In a statement, Zelensky said the high command needed to be "renewed" and Gen Zaluzhnyi would be able to "remain on the team".
Stay with us as we bring you the latest lines from Kyiv.