About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 2024)
WORLD The Times, Gainesville, Georgia lgainesvilletimes.com Weekend Edition-February 9-10, 2024 5A Ukraine president replaces nation’s top general BY ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine's president replaced his top general Thursday in a shake-up aimed at reigniting momentum in the deadlocked war with Russia, which is grinding into its third year as the country grapples with shortages of ammunition and personnel and struggles to maintain support from the West. After days of speculation that change was coming, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media that he was thankful for the service of the outgoing Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi — a military leader popular with troops and the general public. “The time for... a renewal is now," Zelenskyy said on X. Zelenskyy appointed the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, to lead the army, which needs a morale boost at a time when the conflict with Russia has been at a near stalemate for months. Syrskyi, 58, has been instrumental in some of Ukraine's biggest successes over the past two years, including overseeing the defense of the capital in the early days of the invasion. His ascension marks the most significant overhaul of Ukraine's military leadership since Russia's full-scale invasion on Feb. 24 2022. Zaluzhnyi said in a Telegram message that he agreed there is a “need to change approaches and strategy." An adviser to Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on X that Ukraine needs to “prevent stagnation on the front line, which negatively affects public sentiment, to find new functional and high-tech solutions that will allow (Ukraine) to retain and develop the initiative.” Syrskyi, 58, was bestowed with the country's highest honor for his role Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi, front, attends an event for marking Statehood Day in Mykhailivska Square in Kyiv, Friday, July 28. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday, Feb. 8, he met with Zaluzhnyi and told him it’s time for someone new to lead the army. in repelling Moscow's advance on the capital. He has also been credited with orchestrating the successful counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region. Ukraine's struggles with ammunition and personnel come on the heels of a failed counteroffensive last summer and as European allies try to bump up their military production. At the same time, a political standoff in the United States is holding up further aid from Ukraine's main supplier. The Kremlin has lately been focused on taking the eastern Ukraine city of Avdiivka, throwing more troops into the four-month battle and bombarding Ukrainian defenses there. Before Thursday's announcement, local media had speculated for days that Zelenskyy would sack Zaluzhnyi. Zaluzhnyi was highly regarded by his troops and by foreign military officials. Some analysts warned that his exit could bring unwelcome disruption, potentially driving a wedge between the Ukrainian army and its politicians, and fueling uncertainty among the country's Western allies. There has been little change in positions along the 1,500-kilometer (900-mile) front line over the winter, though the Kremlin's forces have kept up their attacks at certain points. Faced with a shortfall in anticipated supplies of Western weaponry, Ukraine has been digging defenses, while Moscow has put its economy on a war footing to give its military more muscle. Strains had appeared between Zaluzhnyi and Zelenskyy — arguably the two most prominent figures in Ukraine's fight — after the much-anticipated counteroffensive failed to meet its goal of penetrating Russia's deep defenses. Kyiv's Western allies had poured billions of dollars' worth of military hardware into Ukraine to help it succeed. Months later, amid signs of war fatigue in the West, Zaluzhnyi described the conflict as being at a “stalemate,” just when Zelenskyy was arguing in foreign capitals that Ukraine's new weaponry had been vital. Zelenskyy said at the end of last year that he had turned down the military's request to mobilize up to 500,000 people, demanding more details about how it would be paid for. Born into a family of Soviet servicemen, Zaluzhnyi is credited with modernizing the Ukrainian army along NATO lines. He took charge seven months before Russia's full-scale invasion. Widely regarded in the West as an ambitious and astute battlefield commander, he has had a reputation for modesty in Ukraine. Zaluzhnyi earned broad public support after the successful defense of Kyiv in the early days of the war, followed by a triumphant counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region and the liberation of Kherson. His courage and defiance of Russia's ambitions were renowned, and he became a symbol of resilience and national unity. “We are on our land and we will not give it up,” Zaluzhnyi said on the first day of the war. Despite his popularity, Zaluzhnyi shied from the spotlight, deferring that role to Zelenskyy. He made limited public appearances and rarely gave interviews. Retired Australian Maj. Gen. Mick Ryan, a fellow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, described Zaluzhnyi as “a charismatic and popular military leader” who would be hard to replace. His replacement will have to build personal relationships with U.S. and NATO military chiefs, while the perception of government instability “is a real danger area for” Zelenskyy, Ryan wrote recently in an article posted online. In Washington, The White House's national security spokesman, John Kirby, told reporters that “we're not concerned about Ukrainian stability as a result of this.” Earlier Thursday, Ukrainian forces claimed to have shot down a Russian attack helicopter in eastern Ukraine near the city of Avdiivka, where soldiers are fighting from street to street as Russia's army seeks to surround Kyiv's defending troops. Avdiivka has become “a primary focus” of Moscow's forces, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in an assessment Thursday. The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces reported Thursday that its troops had fended off 40 enemy assaults around Avdiivka over the previous 24 hours. That is roughly double the number of daily Russian assaults at other points along the front line. Ukraine has built multiple defenses in Avdiivka, complete with concrete fortifications and a network of tunnels. Despite massive losses of personnel and equipment, Russian troops have slowly advanced since October. Russian officials reject bid by candidate to oppose Putin BY DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia — Antiwar politician Boris Nadezhdin was rejected Thursday as a candidate in next month's presidential balloting by Russian election authorities, a strong signal from the Kremlin that it won't tolerate any public opposition to the invasion of Ukraine. The move by the Central Election Commission provides an even smoother path for President Vladimir Putin to win a fifth term in power. He faces only token opposition from pro- Kremlin candidates in the March 15-17 vote and is all but certain to win, given his tight control of Russia's political system. Nadezhdin, a local legislator in a town near Moscow, had needed to gather at least 100,000 signatures of supporters — a requirement that applies to candidates of political parties that are not represented in the Russian parliament. The Central Election Commission declared that more than 9,000 signatures submitted by Nadezhdin's campaign were invalid, which was enough to disqualify him. Russia's election rules say potential candidates can have no more than 5% of their submitted signatures thrown out. He has openly called for a halt to the nearly 2-year- old war in Ukraine and for starting a dialogue with the West. Thousands of Russians lined up across the country last month to sign papers supporting his candidacy, an unusual show of opposition sympathies in the rigidly controlled political landscape. The 60-year-old Nadezhdin, whose name is a form of the Russian word for “hope,” gave a sense of optimism to those opposing the war, and many of them stood in bitterly cold temperatures across the country last month to sign petitions. Starting peace talks with Kyiv was among his campaign promises, as was the idea that Russia is not “a besieged fortress” and needs to pivot toward working with the West rather than being in a confrontation with it. Speaking to officials at the election commission Thursday, Nadezhdin had asked them to postpone their decision, but they declined. He said he would appeal his disqualification in court. “It's not me standing here,” Nadezhdin said. “Hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens who put their signatures down for me are behind me.” Putin is running as an independent candidate, and his campaign was required to gather at least 300,000 signatures in his support. He was swiftly allowed on the ballot earlier this year, with election officials disqualifying only 91 out of 315,000 that his campaign submitted. Most of the opposition figures who might have challenged Putin have been either imprisoned or exiled abroad. That includes opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whose attempt to run against Putin in 2018 also was rejected, and he is now serving a 19-year prison sentence on extremism charges. The vast majority of independent Russian media outlets also have been banned under Putin. Central Election Commission head Ella Pamfilova said the ballot will have only four names — the fewest number of candidates since 2008, when Dmitry Medvedev ran in place of the term-limited Putin. Medvedev easily won the race with three other token contenders in a power sharing deal that kept Putin in charge as prime minister. Three candidates running against Putin next month were nominated by parties represented in parliament and weren't required to collect signatures: Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party, Leonid Slutsky of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party and Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party. Those parties largely support the Kremlin's policies. Kharitonov ran against Putin in 2004, finishing a distant second. Exiled opposition activists, including those on Navalny's team, had thrown their weight behind Nadezhdin, urging their supporters to sign his nomination petitions. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said the Kremlin doesn't view Nadezhdin as “a rival.” Speaking after the election commission hearing, Nadezhdin stressed that many Russians want change. “You can remove Nadezhdin from the elections, no question, you can do it,” he said. “But where do you put tens of millions of people who want change, who do not agree with the course that is now taking place in the country? That's the problem. These people are not going anywhere.” Nadezhdin is the second antiwar hopeful to be denied a spot on the ballot. In December, the election commission refused to certify the candidacy of Yekaterina Duntsova, citing problems such as spelling errors in her paperwork. Business EXPO 2024 Business Expo is FREE! Open to the Public! 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