Ukraine's First Deputy Defense Minister Oleksandr Pavlyuk has been dismissed from his post, the government announced on February 10, the latest of major personnel changes at the top of Ukraine's army after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the military needed a "reset."
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The move was announced on Telegram by Taras Melnychuk, the government's representative in the Ukrainian parliament, who said Pavlyuk was "transferred to another job," without giving any other details.
Melnychuk did not say who was replacing Pavlyuk.
Zelenskiy on February 9 appointed Major General Anatoliy Barhilevych as Ukraine's new chief of the General Staff in another major personnel change after naming Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy as commander in chief.
Barhilevych replaced Lieutenant General Serhiy Shaptala.
Zelenskiy announced Barhilevych's appointment in his nightly video address, saying he had acted at Syrskiy's recommendation.
Zelenskiy described Barhilevych as "an experienced individual who understands the tasks of this war and Ukrainian objectives."
Zelenskiy also said that Syrskiy has already identified candidates for positions as his deputies but did not name them, saying only that all have combat experience, are professional, and possess "a clear knowledge of the front and the real needs of Ukrainian soldiers."
In his first remarks since being appointed to command Ukraine's armed forces, Syrskiy said the country must change and improve its methods of warfare if it is to defeat invading Russian forces.
Syrskiy, who on February 8 was named by Zelenskiy to take over the lead of the armed forces from General Valeriy Zaluzhniy, said in a post on Telegram that "a clear and detailed planning of the actions of all military administration bodies" was needed.
"Only changes and constant improvement of the means and methods of warfare will make it possible to achieve success on this path," he wrote in the post on February 9, adding that new technical solutions, including drone systems and adding means of radio-electronic warfare are needed.
Syrskyi is regarded as the architect of the most important Ukrainian victory of the war, the counteroffensive in the eastern Kharkiv region in September 2022 that chased Russian forces out of the cities of Kupiansk and Izyum.
The change in the leadership of the armed forces comes at a crucial time for Ukraine, which has failed to recapture significant territory from Russia since late 2022.
Kyiv also faces a potential disruption in military aid supply from the United States, its biggest backer, as Republican lawmakers block a $61 billion aid package over demands for deep changes in U.S. border policy.