Syrskyi instead of Zaluzhnyi and return of prisoners: highlights for February 8

Zaluzhnyi's resignation

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi and appointed Oleksandr Syrskyi to replace him.

Before that, Zelenskyy met with General Valerii Zaluzhnyi and thanked him for his service.

They discussed updates to the Armed Forces, including who might be in the new leadership of the army.

Zaluzhnyi himself wrote after the meeting: “Our battle is ongoing and changing every day. The tasks of 2022 are different from the tasks of 2024. Therefore, everyone must change and adapt to the new realities as well. To win together.”

A little later, Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umierov confirmed the change in military leadership.

“2024 will bring new changes that we must be prepared for. We need new approaches and new strategies. Today, it was decided to change the leadership of the Armed Forces. I am sincerely grateful to Valerii Fedorovych for all his achievements and victories,” he said.

Zelenskyy appointed Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who previously headed the Land Forces, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

Later, the President's Office published a list of what Zelenskyy expects from the Armed Forces after the leadership change. In particular, the head of state wants to see a “realistic, detailed action plan” for the Armed Forces for 2024 on the table.

Return of prisoners of war

On February 8, Ukraine conducted another exchange of prisoners of war. Another 100 Ukrainian defenders returned home.

Among the rescued soldiers are 49 National Guard members, 25 border guards, and 26 Armed Forces personnel, including 11 territorial defense soldiers.

84 were defending Mariupol, including 82 who were at Azovstal, and the rest were on missions in the Donetsk and Luhansk sectors. All those who were released this time were privates or sergeants.

Also among those exchanged is military medic Volodymyr Hroitskyi, whom we featured in a special project called “In Steel Arms”.

In total, since the beginning of the Great War, 3135 Ukrainian defenders have been released from Russian captivity.

Senate votes in favor of aid to Ukraine

The upper house of the U.S. Congress, the Senate, has supported a procedural vote on a $95 billion bill for joint assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.

In particular, the bill includes $60 billion to support Ukraine. However, it is important to understand that this is not the final vote, but it allows for an accelerated consideration of the document. The next decision is up to the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold the dominant position.

Russians could get Starlink

The Ukrainian soldiers are posting on social media that Russians are using Starlink satellite communication terminals at the front.

The posts state that these systems are available in the temporarily occupied territories and are supplied to the Russians via Dubai.

A representative of the Defense Intelligence, Andrii Yusov, told hromadske that the information is currently being checked.

Electronic military ID card

Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov announced the introduction of an electronic military ID card in Ukraine. The Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Defense are working together on this.

According to him, a separate information system will most likely be created for the electronic military card based on the Ministry of Defense.

New data on the destruction of Mariupol

The international human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released new data on the destruction of the city of Mariupol in the Donetsk region by Russia. Human rights activists estimate that more than 10,000 people were buried in Mariupol between March 2022 and February 2023.

These calculations are based on the analysis of graves in the four main cemeteries of the city and the cemetery of the village of Mangush, located nearby.

Shooting of a car in Nikopol

On February 8, the deputy mayor of Nikopol, 59-year-old Vitaliy Zhuravlev, was killed in a car shooting in Nikopol.

Previously, he was a member of the Batkivshchyna political party and the head of the Nikopoltsi public union. In 2020, he ran for mayor of Nikopol but was not elected. He had a university degree and no criminal record.

The police identified the attacker's description. They are currently collecting and analyzing material evidence and searching for the suspect.

Other top news of the day:

• Lubinets appealed to the UN and the Red Cross because of the occupiers' trials of Ukrainian defenders.
• The GUR hacked the Russian program for controlling UAVs: it is now impossible to control the drones.
• Ukrainian pilot Vladyslav Rykov, who had 385 combat missions, was killed.
• Border guards say they have detained a record number of men trying to illegally leave Ukraine at the same time — 38 people.
• Fighting in Avdiivka is now taking place within the city limits, not just in the detached house area, the Ukrainian Armed Forces said.
• Two new gas wells have been launched in Ukraine: they produce 550 thousand cubic meters of gas per day.
• Police in the Ivano-Frankivsk region will step up their service after a woman was beaten in Kosmach on suspicion of collaboration with the Territorial Recruitment Center.