Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that he appointed Oleksand Syrsky as the new commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces.
Until now, Syrsky served as the head of Ukraine’s ground forces.
"I appointed Colonel General Syrsky as the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces," Zelensky said in a video address.
Earlier in the day, Zelensky met with Valerii Zaluzhny and thanked him for service as the commander-in-chief.
Following reports of Zelensky's intention to remove Zaluzhny from his post as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reported that the Ukrainian president wanted to remove Zaluzhny from his post because of his alleged involvement in secret talks with Western officials about pursuing a ceasefire with Russia.
Meanwhile, US media, citing sources, reported that the Ukrainian government postponed Zaluzhny's dismissal because of a leak about his possible resignation and decided to slow down the process.