Major General Andriy Kovalchuk, commander of the troops of the Operational Command "South", announced his resignation from the post and transfer to the field of military training.
"Gentlemen officers, sergeants, soldiers, servicemen and employees of the troops of the Southern Operational Command! Dear residents of the southern regions of our country! Comrades-in-arms, colleagues, friends! Thank you for your joint service! These two and a half years have been a difficult and intense period in the lives of each of us. (...) I am proud to have had the honour and trust to be your commander, to be the commander of the glorious and wayward South," Kovalchuk said in a post on the Facebook page of the South Command on Friday.
He said he would be in charge of training the military.
"With confidence in us and in our abilities, I remain in a single army family, and in the education of young officers I will implement the same principles and requirements that I have always had and have for myself and those I lead: honour, decency, patriotism, responsibility, courage and prudence – this is what makes a true commander capable of being a role model and educating his combat team by his own example. This is how the newest army of a democratic independent state is formed," Kovalchuk wrote.
However, he did not specify what position he was being transferred to.
On 9 April, Oleksiy Honcharenko, a member of the European Solidarity faction, said that Kovalchuk had been fired and would be heading the Odesa Military Academy. There was no confirmation of this information. At the same time, Goncharenko announced the resignation of the commander of the Operational Command 'West', Serhiy Lytvynov.
On 11 April, the Land Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine informed the Hromadske TV channel that Generals Kovalchuk and Lytvynov had been transferred "as part of their promotion": the former was appointed head of the Military Academy in Odesa, and the latter was appointed deputy head of the National Defence University of Ukraine.
Major General Andriy Kovalchuk became the head of the Southern Operational Command in 2021. Prior to that, he was the First Deputy Commander of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He has the status of a Hero of Ukraine and took part in the battles for Sloviansk and Luhansk airport. The commander is also known for the successful operation of the Armed Forces to liberate the right-bank part of Kherson region and Kherson itself.
Lytvynov became the commander of the West Operational Command in August 2021. He was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, II and III degrees, as well as the Order for Courage.
It has not yet been officially announced who will replace the generals as commanders of the troops of the Operational Commands "South" and "West".
According to MP Honcharenko, General Hennadiy Shapovalov, former commander of the 59th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade named after Yakiv Handziuk, has been appointed head of the Southern Command. And Brigadier General Volodymyr Shvedyuk, who previously served in the Territorial Defence Forces, was appointed commander of the Western Military District.