New Ukrainian army chief wants to "perfect" army to win war against Russia
The new head of the Ukrainian army, Oleksander Sirski, has set himself the goal of "perfecting" the armed forces to repel the Russians, whose government assured that changes in Kiev's military hierarchy would not affect the development of the conflict.
"Only change and continuous improvement of the means and methods of warfare will allow us to succeed," General Sirski said on Telegram in his first public statement as army commander-in-chief.
Sirski was appointed on Thursday to replace the popular General Valeri Zaluzhni. The Ukrainian presidency felt that a change was needed after two years of war, the front line of which appears to have stalled.
President Volodimir Zelenski asked the new commander-in-chief of the armed forces for a "realistic" battle plan for 2024, at a time of growing concern in Kiev that domestic dissension in the United States and the European Union could lead to a decline in Western support.
"It is about clear and detailed planning of the actions of all organs" to achieve "victory", said Oleksander Sirski, "Ukraine's most experienced general", according to Zelenski.
One of the most pressing problems currently facing the Ukrainian army is the lack of ammunition, but Sirski assured that "the rapid and rational distribution and delivery of everything necessary for combat units has been and is the main task of military logistics".
The general, who until now was head of the ground forces, also stressed that his priority will be to limit human losses.
"The life and health of soldiers has always been and is the main value of the Ukrainian army," he said.
"Impossible" defeat
Changes that, however, did not seem to affect the Kremlin's determination to "continue" its invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
The Russian military currently occupies around 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory.
"We do not believe that these are factors that could change the course of the special military operation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was "impossible" for Russia to be defeated in Ukraine.
"It will never happen," Putin said during an interview with US host Tucker Carlson on Thursday.
Since the conflict began, Russia has also carried out several reshuffles of its General Staff: in September 2022, after its troops withdrew from the Kharkov region of northeastern Ukraine; and after the foiled mutiny by the Wagner group in June 2023.
Refineries attacked
After almost two years of fighting, Ukraine is grappling with a number of difficulties on the front line, including a shortage of ammunition needed to resist Russian assaults, which are currently concentrated around Avdiivka, an industrial town in the east of the country.
Kiev's forces are focusing their efforts on drone and missile attacks on military and energy installations on Russian territory in order to force Moscow to withdraw some of its troops and equipment deployed on the front line to the rear.
On Friday, Ukrainian special services told AFP that they had hit two oil refineries in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia, which "supply fuel to troops" deployed in Ukraine.
According to the source, "a large fire broke out" at the Ilski refinery and one unit "was damaged".
In addition, a plant at Afipski, nearby, was also "hit", the source said.
Russian rescue services reported a fire at the Ilski refinery but did not link it to the drone attacks reported by the Russian Defence Ministry.
According to the ministry, Russian forces neutralised 19 Ukrainian drones in four different regions, including Krasnodar, and also in the Black Sea.
Ukraine, meanwhile, claimed to have shot down 10 of the 16 Iranian-made drones, called 'Shahed', launched by Russia overnight.
