Zelensky fires heads of military enlistment

Russia ups pressure in northeast Ukraine; drone attack on Moscow ‘foiled’
AFP, Kyiv
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday dismissed officials responsible for military conscription in each region of the country, citing corruption allegations that he said could amount to treason.
“We are dismissing all regional military commissars,” Zelensky said in a post on social media, following a meeting with senior military leadership.
“This system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery at a time of war is high treason,” he added.
Kyiv has been conscripting Ukrainians for assault battalions for its counteroffensive against Russian forces to recapture territory controlled by Moscow’s troops.
The move reflects Ukraine’s efforts to clamp down on graft and corruption as part of sweeping reforms requested by Western institutions like the European Union, which Ukraine hopes to join.
“During the inspection of the territorial recruitment centres, law enforcement agencies exposed cases of corruption,” the presidency said in a separate statement.
It said Ukraine’s general mobilisation was a key area in which inspectors had uncovered instances of foul play.
These “pose a threat to Ukraine’s national security and undermine confidence in state institutions,” the statement said.
It added that Ukraine’s security council recommended that the head of the army select replacements who have battlefield experience and were vetted by Ukraine’s intelligence services.
Meanwhile, Russia yesterday claimed to have improved its fighting positions around the northeast Ukraine town of Kupiansk, where its advance has promoted Ukrainian officials to urge residents to evacuate.
Moscow also launched a volley of hypersonic missiles at western Ukraine, killing an eight-year-old boy in a part of the country that has largely been spared from attacks.
Kupiansk and the surrounding areas of the northeast Kharkiv region were recaptured by Kyiv’s forces in September, but Moscow has since pushed back into the region, forcing Ukraine to order civilian evacuations.
According to Moscow’s defence ministry, Russian units had “continued offensive operations on a wide front and improved the tactical situation” in Vilshana and Pershotravneve to the east of Kupiansk.
The situation around the town was “difficult, given the power of the enemy group, but controlled”, said Sergiy Cherevaty, spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern forces.
Ukrainian officials in Kupiansk on Thursday urged residents in 37 settlements wedged between the town and Russian lines to evacuate.
People could shift to Kharkiv, some 90 kilometres (55 miles) west, where they would have the option to move to safer regions, they said.
Russia’s drive in Kupiansk has sought to draw Ukrainian forces away from Kyiv’s own counteroffensive.
Ukraine launched its highly anticipated push in June after stockpiling Western weapons but has struggled to make headway in the face of stiff Russian resistance.