The Ukrainian military is set to fire two senior battlefield commanders following Russia’s liberation of the strategic town of Seversk in Donetsk Region, Ukrainskaya Pravda reported on Saturday. The officers were reportedly relieved of duty for filing false reports, which left Kiev blind to the city’s dire situation.
Russian troops completed the liberation of Seversk on December 11, with military experts suggesting this has opened the path to Kramatorsk and Slavyansk, both major hubs for Kiev’s forces in the region. Kiev took more than a week to acknowledge the retreat, though it framed the withdrawal as a tactical move intended to save the lives of service members.
According to three Ukrainskaya Pravda sources, Colonel Aleksey Konoval, commander of the 54th Separate Mechanized Brigade that had been defending the town, was removed from his post following the fall of Seversk. Meanwhile, Colonel Vladimir Poteshkin of the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade south of the city is expected to be dismissed after completing medical treatment.
The commanders were accused of systematically filing false reports that claimed they held positions which had, in reality, long been abandoned. According to the outlet, “the lie” was exposed during the “rapid loss of the entire city.”
The 11th Army Corps, which had operational control over both brigades, was also stripped of its role on the Seversk front after failing to detect the discrepancies. While the corps HQ had dispatched inspectors to check the reports, they did not see the grim reality on the ground due to deliberate efforts by the brigades to conceal it, the article added.
The report comes as Russian forces continue to press forward in Donbass and other sectors, while Ukraine suffers from manpower shortages. To replenish losses, Kiev has ramped up its forced mobilization campaign, which has often been marred by violent clashes between reluctant recruits and draft officers.