Ukrainian General Staff confirms personnel changes after failures in Zaporizhzhia and Novopavlivka
16 September 2025 01:19
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky has decided to dismiss the commanders of the 17th and 20th Army Corps. According to Suspilne, the decision has already been confirmed by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
We are talking about:
- Volodymyr Silenko – commander of the 17th Army Corps, which is stationed in the Zaporizhzhia direction.
- Maksym Kitugin, the commander of the 20th Corps, which was responsible for the Novopavlivsk direction.
The General Staff explained the reasons for the personnel changes:
“Such personnel decisions of the Commander-in-Chief are related to the omissions of two commanders in the management of troops. The consequences of ineffective leadership in the areas of responsibility were, most importantly, the loss of personnel and the loss of territories in the areas of responsibility in the Zaporizhzhia and Novopavlivka directions.”
Earlier , Ukrayinska Pravda reported, citing sources in the Defense Forces, that both commanders were dismissed for allegedly losing positions in the corps’ areas of responsibility. the 17th Corps, headed by Silenko, is located in Zaporizhzhia region, where the Defense Forces have recently lost the village of Kamianske and part of the village of Plavni, located on the banks of the Dnipro River.
The General Staff emphasized that both officers will continue to serve in other positions, but will no longer lead corps.
The Armed Forces switched to the corps system at the end of 2024. A corps is an organizational form of military units at the operational level used in the armed forces of some countries. In Ukraine, separate brigades were organized into corps. The corps commander is responsible for all subordinate corps of the brigade.
