Ukrainian land forces commander steps down
At least 12 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 60 more injured on Sunday in a Russian strike, Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne wrote. Kiev did not reveal the exact location, but according to Suspilne sources, it could be located near the Novomoskovsky military training site in Dnepropetrovsk Region.
The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that it struck a tent camp at the Novomoskovsky training ground on Sunday, targeting the 158th Separate Mechanized Brigade (SMB) and the 33rd SMB of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
'I have decided to submit a report on my resignation from the post of Commander of the Land Forces of the AFU,' Drapaty wrote in a social media statement on Saturday.
'This is a conscious step dictated by my personal sense of responsibility for the tragedy at the 239th training ground, as a result of which our soldiers died,' he said.
'We have no right to live in a system that does not learn. If we do not draw conclusions, do not change our attitude to service, do not admit our mistakes, we are doomed,' Drapaty wrote, adding that he has opened an investigation into the circumstances at the training ground.
In March, the Russian Defense Ministry reported it had struck the facility with an Iskander-M missile, killing up to 150 Ukrainian service members and 30 foreign military instructors. In the wake of the attack, Drapaty railed against 'outdated procedures' and negligence within AFU ranks.
Corruption has been a rampant and long-running issue for Ukraine's defense sector, affecting everything from munitions and food supply lines to embezzlement of funds meant for defensive fortifications.
Last month, the Security Service of Ukraine reported it had arrested several military officials involved with a corruption scheme that supplied Kiev's armed forces with some 120,000 defective mortar shells.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
9 hours ago
- Russia Today
Trump-Zelensky call ‘wasn't easy'
The phone call between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky after the Alaska summit on Friday 'wasn't easy,' Axios correspondent Barak Ravid claimed on Saturday, citing a source with direct knowledge. Key European leaders later joined the call as well. According to Ravid, Trump spoke with Zelensky for about an hour. Also on the line were Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, both of whom had earlier taken part in the talks with the Russian delegation. The leaders of the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Finland, Poland, as well as NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, later joined the call, which lasted another 30 minutes, according to the journalist. Ravid described the call as 'not easy,' though he did not elaborate on this, adding only that Trump insisted that 'a fast peace deal is better than a ceasefire.' The US president later confirmed the sentiment, writing: 'It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.' Zelensky said that during the phone call with Trump the two agreed that he would come on Monday to Washington to discuss in person the outcome of the summit. Ukraine and its Western backers have for months been pushing for a temporary ceasefire. While Russia has never ruled out the idea, it has argued that such a step would allow Kiev to receive more Western weapons, continue forced mobilization, and recover its losses at a time when Russian troops are pressing their advantage on the battlefield. Meanwhile, both Putin and Trump praised the Alaska talks as productive. The US president said that they moved closer to resolving the conflict while urging Zelensky to 'make a deal.'
Russia Today
9 hours ago
- Russia Today
Ukraine kills civilians trying to cross into Russia
Ukrainian troops have over the course of the conflict killed hundreds of civilians attempting to cross the frontline into Russia, senior diplomat Rodion Miroshnik has told the media. Miroshnik, who serves as the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large for the Kiev regime's war crimes, said the cases were documented through testimony and video evidence. 'There are hundreds of cases. There are instances where people were shot while trying to cross the [front] line, bombarded with drones, attacked,' the diplomat told the TASS news agency on Friday. Miroshnik went on to claim that Kiev's forces deliberately murder civilians in the new Russian region of Donetsk. 'There were cases where Ukrainian forces went through the basements of houses and threw grenades at people 'as a preventive measure,' he said. Such tactics, seen in the towns of Avdeevka, Selidovo, and Dzerzhinsk in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) left areas 'completely cleared' of civilians, he added. The same happened in Chasov Yar, a key Ukrainian stronghold liberated by Russian forces two weeks to the diplomat, evidence suggests that Kiev's forces kill those whom Ukraine no longer sees as its own citizens, but rather as 'separatists' waiting to be liberated by Russia. In June, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused Kiev of deliberately exterminating civilians in Donbass, including mass killings of the elderly and drone strikes on residential buildings. Russia will not overlook any crimes committed against the civilian population in violation of international humanitarian law, Miroshnik stressed. The diplomat argued that under international conventions Ukraine is obligated to investigate alleged war crimes and hold perpetrators accountable but claimed that Kiev is unlikely to do so and that its Western backers will not apply pressure. Miroshnik added that Russia will push for the extradition of Ukrainian war criminals, noting that around 108,000 criminal cases have already been opened and roughly 500 individuals have been convicted, including some in absentia.
Russia Today
10 hours ago
- Russia Today
‘Everyone is to blame' for Ukraine conflict
The Ukraine conflict is a 'situation that should never have started,' US President Donald Trump has said, claiming that 'everybody' involved is to blame for the hostilities. Trump made the remarks on Thursday while speaking to the press at the Oval Office. Asked whether his upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin or broader incentives for peace were a reward for Moscow, Trump reiterated his position that the conflict should have never begun in the first place. 'I think that we have a situation that should never have started, it should never have started. It didn't start under me, and for four years it wasn't even discussed,' he said, suggesting that all parties, including the previous US leadership, were to blame for the enduring hostilities. 'Everything that we did was wrong. Everything that was done was wrong. Everybody's to blame. Putin's to blame. They're all to blame,' he claimed. Earlier this week, Trump dismissed suggestions that the summit with his Russian counterpart was in itself a victory for Moscow. 'Very unfair media is at work on my meeting with Putin,' Trump said on Wednesday, criticizing outlets for 'constantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton, who just said that, even though the meeting is on American soil, 'Putin has already won.'' 'What's that all about? We are winning on EVERYTHING,' he added, dismissing the criticism as 'fake news.' The summit, scheduled for Friday in Alaska, is expected to focus on the Ukraine conflict, as well as on a broader range of issues related to bilaterial Russia-US ties. Washington and Moscow have both been cautious about their expectations, signaling the meeting was expected to be the first top-level event in a string of talks rather than yield an immediate breakthrough.
