Russian attacks have been increasing on the Ukrainian cities of Avdiivka and Kupyansk, as well as the Donetsk region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense is considering dismissing three commanders of the armed forces, Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources in Ukraine’s military and political leadership.
According to the sources, Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov is preparing to dismiss Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, who is in charge of one of the fronts of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, and Serhii Naiev, commander of Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, along with another army chief.
Ukraine's presidential office did not confirm or deny the report to the outlet. If the dismissals do take place, they are likely to partly reflect criticism of Ukraine's counteroffensive, which has seen few gains since it was launched in June.
Separately, Russian soldiers found to be abusing alcohol or drugs are likely being posted to vulnerable "Storm-Z" units that are predominantly made up of Russian prisoners, the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense said.
Storm-Z assault detachments are used in what analysts say are highly attritional infantry-led frontal assaults.
Russian "milbloggers" closely following and commenting on the war on social media have claimed that "Storm-Z" assault detachments in the areas around Avdiivka and Bakhmut, two fighting hotspots in eastern Ukraine, are often destroyed after a few days of active operations and on average lose between 40-70% of their personnel.