The Washington Post publishes details of the complaint Krotevych wrote against General Sodol

According to The Washington Post, this week, Major Bohdan Krotevych, chief of staff of the Azov Brigade, accused a senior general of incompetence, blaming him for "thousands" of casualties among the Ukrainian military.

According to the newspaper, public criticism from the military reflects growing discontent among Ukrainian troops as Russia advances on the battlefield.

Krotevych filed a request with the State Bureau of Investigation regarding "a military general who, in my opinion, killed more Ukrainian soldiers than any Russian general," he wrote in a Telegram post on Monday.

Hours later, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he had replaced Lieutenant General Yuriy Sodol as commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Sodol is also in charge of the ground forces on a critical section of the frontline stretching from the eastern Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions, and is expected to be relieved of this post as well.

Krotevych's call for an investigation into Sodol was an unexpected manifestation of the split in the Ukrainian command. For months, the Ukrainian military has quietly complained about unreasonable orders that led to casualties while they were understaffed and without weapons.

This comes as Russia has retaken some 260 square miles in the last four months.

"I am unpleasant that battalion and brigade commanders are condemned for the loss of an observation post, while the general is not condemned for the loss of regions and dozens of cities and thousands of soldiers," Krotevich wrote on Telegram.

In his Monday evening address, Zelenskyy did not give a reason for Sodol's dismissal, only saying that he would be replaced by Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov. On Wednesday morning, Zelensky posted a video from Donetsk region, after visiting the fighters with Syrsky and Hnatov.

"General Hnatov's task is clear: to destroy the occupier and, importantly, to save the lives of our soldiers as much as possible," Zelensky said.

According to the complaint, obtained by The Washington Post, Krotevych accused Sodol of a number of mistakes, starting with his command of the defence of Mariupol in 2022. It was during this siege that the Azov Brigade became famous for holding on to the Azovstal plant long after the rest of the city had fallen.

"Although General Sodol did not lead the defence of the city and did not spend a single hour in Mariupol, he was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine," Krotevych wrote.

He added that Sodol did not supply the Azov brigade with ammunition or build up the city's defences before the offensive.

And recently, when he was in command of the eastern front, Sodol ordered Azov to advance, although the brigade did not have enough artillery ammunition to do so. When the soldiers refused to do so, an investigation was launched against the Azov commander.

"Gen. Sodol is inadequately leading the troops, and his decisions have led to the deaths of thousands of soldiers of the Armed Forces, the National Guard and other defence units, which has led to the weakness of positions at the front and the loss of a large amount of territory," Krotevych said.

According to WP, other influential figures have also questioned Sodol's command. Activist Serhiy Sternenko, whose YouTube channel has almost 2 million subscribers, tweeted that his appointment was a "personnel disaster". Sternenko and others argued that the Ukrainian marines who were ordered to storm the left bank of the Kherson region suffered senseless losses.

"It is hard to imagine a worse candidate who is more indifferent to the lives of soldiers," he added.

MP Mariana Bezuhla, a member of the parliamentary defence committee, called Sodol a "criminal" on Facebook and also called on Syrsky to resign. Bezuhla also criticised Syrskyi's predecessor, Zaluzhnyi.

Sodol had been in office for only four months, appointed by the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Analysts argue that Sodol's swift removal could weaken the position of Syrsky, who is already disliked by rank-and-file soldiers for what they see as brutal and outdated tactics reminiscent of the Soviet Union's army leadership.

It also threatens to backfire on Zelenskyy, who took greater responsibility for battlefield decisions when he fired popular General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi in February.

As WP writes, disputes and complaints within the military are usually kept secret; soldiers who criticise their command can be punished. Discussion of combat losses is considered a state secret, which Ukraine's political leadership prefers to downplay in order not to weaken the morale of the society.

Background. As a reminder, the day before, Zelensky fired the commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Sodol. Earlier, Bohdan Krotevych filed a complaint with the State Bureau of Investigation demanding an investigation into him.