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Russia Today
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russia strikes more Ukrainian military training sites – MOD (VIDEOS)
Russian forces have conducted strikes on two sites used by Kiev to train newly mobilized troops, the Defense Ministry said. The announcement follows the resignation of a senior Ukrainian military commander, who criticized what he described as a lack of accountability for such incidents. Ukraine's armed forces rely on compulsory conscription to bolster their ranks, typically sending draftees to remote training facilities for basic instruction before deploying them to the front. According to the Russian military, Iskander missile strikes recently targeted two such facilities. One strike, near the Ukrainian city of Sumy, reportedly resulted in up to 100 casualties and destroyed as many as 14 military vehicles, the ministry said in a statement on Monday. The second strike, reported on Sunday, hit an area under Kiev's control in Russia's Kherson Region, the ministry said. This operation involved an Iskander missile equipped with a cluster warhead that allegedly killed around 70 Ukrainian troops while destroying more than 10 vehicles. Ukraine's military confirmed the attack on a training site but reported a significantly lower toll – three soldiers killed and 14 wounded. In early June, Ukrainian General Mikhail Drapaty resigned as commander of the Land Forces following a similar deadly incident. In a social media post, he condemned what he called a culture of impunity within the military leadership regarding troop losses. According to Ukraine's Suspilne news outlet, a Russian strike killed at least 12 Ukrainian soldiers and injured 60 others on June 1. Authorities in Kiev did not disclose the exact location, but the report, citing anonymous sources, indicated it may have occurred in the Dnepropetrovsk Region. Around the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had struck the Novomoskovsky training ground in that region. Days later, Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky appointed Drapaty to oversee all frontline operations as part of a broader reshuffle in military leadership, assigning a different official to supervise conscript training. In a report on Saturday, the Financial Times said that the newly appointed commander of Ukraine's Ground Forces, Brigadier General Gennady Shapovalov, has been tasked with reforming the 'unpopular' forced mobilization and training system. Ukraine declared general mobilization in 2022, barring most men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country. In 2024, Kiev tightened conscription laws and lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 in response to mounting battlefield losses. The mobilization campaign has sparked numerous violent confrontations between draft officers and unwilling conscripts, while many have attempted to flee the country despite serious personal risks.
Russia Today
05-06-2025
- General
- Russia Today
Ukrainian general reassigned days after stepping down
Ukrainian General Mikhail Drapaty has been assigned to a top military post just days after submitting his resignation as the head of Ukraine's Land Forces. The move comes amid reports of increased infighting among senior Ukrainian military officials. Kiev's forces have experienced setbacks on the battlefield since late 2023, following an attempted counteroffensive that failed to breach Russian defenses. Reports of mounting frustration and internal tensions have circulated as battlefield momentum has shifted in Russia's favor. Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky announced on Tuesday that Drapaty – who had resigned after accepting responsibility for fatal Russian strikes on military training sites – will now lead a specialized command established in 2020 to help align Ukraine's armed forces with NATO operational methods. The position is currently tasked with overseeing frontline operations against Russia. In his new role, Drapaty will 'focus solely on combat issues,' while a separate appointee will manage troop training, Zelensky said. The move is part of a broader reshuffle within Ukraine's military leadership. Announcing his resignation, Drapaty had criticized the Ukrainian military's failure to learn from past mistakes or to hold senior officers accountable. He condemned what he described as a culture of mutual self-protection within senior ranks, calling it 'poison for the army' and saying Ukraine 'cannot win' without reforms to its armed forces. Drapaty reiterated his call for changes in a statement confirming his reassignment. Critics blame entrenched interests in the Ukrainian military for pervasive corruption, disregard for soldiers' lives, tendency to cover up battlefield problems from superiors up the command chain, and impunity for wrongdoing. Several media outlets have interpreted Drapaty's remarks as a veiled critique of General Aleksandr Syrsky, Ukraine's commander-in-chief. Commentary on the website has suggested that Zelensky's leadership shake-up may have been designed to balance influence between Syrsky's supporters and dissenting voices within the military. Zelensky dismissed Syrsky's predecessor, General Valery Zaluzhny, in early 2024 after Zaluzhny publicly questioned Kiev's strategic outlook. He argued that the conflict with Russia had reached a stalemate, contradicting public assurances from civilian leaders. Zaluzhny was sacked from the military and appointed ambassador to the UK. The Ukrainian military has since undergone multiple reshuffles of leadership, as the situation on the frontline increasingly turned in Russia's favor. Drapaty was given command of the Land Forces in November 2024.
Russia Today
01-06-2025
- General
- Russia Today
Ukrainian land forces commander steps down
The commander of Ukraine's Land Forces, Mikhail Drapaty, has resigned from his post, taking responsibility for the deaths of Ukrainian troops in consecutive strikes on a military training center. 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.
