Zelenskyy spoke after meeting with Maj. Gen. Mykhailo
Drapatyi, commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Joint Forces; Volodymyr
Horbatiuk, deputy chief of the General Staff; and Oleh Apostol, commander of
the Air Assault Forces.
Deputy head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa also
attended.
“Today I spoke with three more of Ukraine’s experienced
military officers,” Zelenskyy said.
Drapatyi briefed him on the situation in sectors across
Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.
“I am grateful to all our units that are effectively
destroying the occupiers and preventing the Russian army from carrying out its
assigned missions,” Zelenskyy said.
The second major topic was implementing agreements with
Ukraine’s partners and maintaining steady supplies for the country’s defense.
“The main priority is air defense and fully carrying out
contracts to produce all types of drones,” the president said.
The meeting also covered the Oleksandrivka sector and
ongoing operations by the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Air Assault Forces.
“I value the objective assessment of the situation, the
detailed breakdown of the key needs of corps and brigades in these sectors, and
the proposals for addressing problems and closing supply gaps,” Zelenskyy said.
On July 18, Zelenskyy said he had met with the commanders of
several Defense Forces corps in talks attended by Palisa, a brigadier general.
He later said he had held a lengthy conversation with former
Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and had spoken separately with Ukrainian
Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
The Financial Times reported that Zelenskyy was considering
dismissing Syrskyi amid mass protests that began after Fedorov’s resignation.
The newspaper said interviews with potential replacements were expected over
the weekend.
On July 16, Zelenskyy said Yevhenii Khmara, who had headed
the Alpha Special Operations Center of Ukraine’s SBU Security Service, would
act as defense minister in Serhiy Koretskyi’s new government.
Zelenskyy also confirmed that Fedorov and Syrskyi had
clashed. The former minister said the commander-in-chief had blocked all his
initiatives and issued ultimatums.