The deputy head of the Presidentʼs Office, Roman Mashovets, said that Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired the commander of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Viktor Horenko, at the request of Defense Minister Rustem Umyerov.
He said this in a comment to "Ukrainian Pravda".
According to him, the Minister of Defense has the right to make submissions on appointments and dismissals. This is stated in Clause 5 of Article 16 of the Law "On National Security of Ukraine".
What happened
On November 3, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Viktor Horenko from the post of commander of the Special Operations Forces by decree. He appointed Colonel Serhii Lupanchuk in his place.
Later, in his evening address, Zelensky noted that Serhii Lupanchuk took part in the battles.
"He is an experienced officer, a combat officer, a proper commander and someone who can add more power to our Special Operations Forces. We are waiting for new results," the president said.
According to him, Lupanchukʼs predecessor, Viktor Khorenko, will continue to perform special tasks as part of the Main Directorate of Intelligence.
Meanwhile, Khorenko said that he learned about the dismissal from publications in the media and did not know the reason for the dismissal.