President Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced on Friday evening that he awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine to generals Valery Zaluzhny, recently dismissed from the post of head of the Ukrainian army, and Kyryl Budanov, head of Ukrainian military intelligence, and also made new appointments to the leadership of the Armed Forces. of the army, replacing him from the leadership of the General Staff of Lieutenant General Serhiy Shaptala.

“Today, we honored our soldiers, sergeants, officers and generals with state awards, in particular, Crosses for Military Merit and the Order of the Golden Star. Heroes of this war. Those who are already in the history of our country. And among them is the lieutenant colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vyacheslav Ageev. It was his unit that on May 23 was the first to destroy a Russian ballistic target — a missile that Moscow had always boasted that no one could shoot down. The Ukrainians succeeded,” Zelenskyi said at the beginning of his video address, News.ro reports.

At that time, he announced that the title of Hero of Ukraine was awarded to General Valery Zaluzhnyi, whom he had replaced in command of the army the day before, and the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov. Budanov, together with Zaluzhny, one of the country’s popular generals, also known abroad, the head of the GUR is often behind the spectacular and daring operations carried out by Ukraine on the territory controlled by the Russians.

“I am grateful to each of them. In total, since the beginning of the full-scale war, more than 70,000 fighters of various branches of the defense and security forces of Ukraine have received state awards. This is the courage that gives strength to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.

On the video recording of the moment published by the presidentZelensky repeatedly and apparently warmly hugs a smiling General Zaluzhny, despite the fact that the two are said to have had a strained relationship.

New commander replacements

The head of state also announced that he had replaced the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Serhii Shaptala, after consultations with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and the new army commander, General Oleksandr Syrskyi. . “I thank Lieutenant General Serhii Shaptala for his services during these two years of war. At the suggestion of Oleksandr Syrsky, I appointed Major General Anatoly Bargilevich as the new Chief of the General Staff. He is an experienced person who understands the tasks of this war and Ukrainian goals,” Zelenskyi said.

Also, the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi chose his deputies, and Zelenskyi said that he will sign the decrees on their appointment. Also, the new chief of the General Staff has new deputies who have already been appointed. “All the guys are fighters, professionals, everyone clearly knows the front line and the real needs of Ukrainian soldiers,” Zelenskyi said.

He also reported that Syrsky, together with the Minister of Defense, discussed with partners from Germany, France and the USA “supply, elimination of deficiencies, shells, weapons.”

Also, “I coordinated with the Prime Minister (Denis Shihal) our activities with partners regarding the confiscation of Russian assets. We continue to communicate at all levels – official, expert and public – to speed up all the necessary decisions. The best response to any manifestation of Russian madness and terror, regardless of its nature, is the damage caused to the terrorist state. Painful, tangible losses. The more casualties the war organizer suffers, the closer we will be to restoring peace. Just peace and reliable security,” Zelenskyy said.

A plea for American help

The Kyiv leader also informed his compatriots that on Friday he had a meeting with a bipartisan delegation of American congressmen led by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. The meeting is all the more important because the $61 billion in aid requested by the White House is still blocked in Congress because of disputes between Democrats and Republicans.

“I briefed them on the current situation on the battlefield, critical threats and the need to continue to maintain our defenses. We mainly discussed three aspects: the need for support this year and the new American package, which is still being discussed. This is a critical matter. Also air defense – in particular, Patriot missiles. And the third key issue is the importance of the long-range of our weapons, especially the ATACMS systems, with a range of 300 kilometers, for which, unfortunately, there is still no solution,” Zelenskyy admitted.

“We appreciate the American leadership and its contribution to the defense of the independence and democracy of Ukraine since the first days of the large-scale war. America helped Ukraine survive at a crucial moment. And now, this year, wartime has not become easier. The challenges are enormous, and voices are increasingly being heard in Europe about how the Kremlin is preparing to expand its aggression. Continued US support is essential. And I thank all our American partners who recognize this. We cannot allow the spread of Russian war and evil. Putin wakes up to reality only when he sees the power in front of him. And we need this power. I thank everyone who increases our strength,” Zelensky said.

“ecocide”

On Friday, Zelenskyi also held a meeting with members of the International Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of War and clarified that this is one of the points of the Ukrainian peace formula – the point on the fight against ecocide.

“With this war, Russia has caused catastrophic environmental damage to Ukraine and our Black Sea region. This applies to everything – from the explosion at the Kakhovskaya HPP to the large-scale mining of our lands. We need to tackle this problem now with everyone in the world willing to help. We must not leave any aspect of this war to our children, no issue must be frozen or postponed – everything must be resolved. And I thank everyone who has the energy and determination to find a solution,” Zelensky concluded his speech on Friday evening.

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