Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demoted two generals for "violating the military oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people"based on the disciplinary status of the Armed Forces.
Zelensky announced in his usual late-night speech released by the Ukrainian presidency that he had made this decision regarding "to the antiheroes. Now I don’t have time to deal with all the traitors. But little by little everyone will be punished".
That is why, he said, the former head of the Main Department of Internal Security of the Security Service of Ukraine, Naumov Andriy Olehovych, and the former head of the Office of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Kherson region, Kryvoruchko Serhiy Oleksandrovych, "are no longer general".
"In accordance with article 48 of the Disciplinary Statute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, those servicemen among the senior officers who have not decided where their homeland is, who violate the military oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people with regard to the protection of our State, its freedom and independence will inevitably be deprived of high military ranks. Random generals don’t belong here!"insisted the president
On the contrary, he expressed "the true heroes of the Security Service: the same absolute gratitude, as well as to each and every one who sincerely defends our country. There really are many heroes among the military".
On the 36th day of the Russian invasion, he stated that "we endured much longer than the enemy expected (…) We are on our feet. And we will keep fighting. Until the end".
Zelensky said that north of kyiv, in the direction of Chernigov, in the Sumy region, the expulsion of the occupiers continues. "They themselves are aware that they can no longer withstand the intensity of the hostilities that they could have sustained in the first half of March"said.
However, he warned that "for the Russian army, this is part of their tactics. All this is not casual. We know your plans. We know what they are planning and what they are doing".
The Russian military is moving away from the areas "in which we are beating them to focus on others that are very important. In those in which it may be difficult for us"he stated.
On the other hand, he mentioned that the situation in the south and in Donbas, in the east, "still extremely difficult".
"The invaders are allocating their sick creativity to the temporarily occupied areas of the Kherson region. They are trying to organize some of their incomprehensible structures there, they are trying to figure out how to consolidate their presence"he added.
Zelensky warned that in Donbas, in Mariupol, in the direction of Kharkiv "Russian troops are building up the potential for attacks. powerful blows".
He thanked the United States for imposing a new package of sanctions against Russia, which, according to the Ukrainian president, "will limit the work of sensitive sectors of the Russian economy: its defense sector".
In addition, he said that on Thursday he had talks with the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyp Erdogan, specifically about the prospects for negotiations in Turkey with the Russian Federation and also about the creation of an effective system of guarantees for Ukraine.
"I am grateful for Turkey’s readiness to become the guarantor of Ukraine’s security"he added.