Ukraine's Southern Operational Command chief steps down after being appointed NATO liaison

Brigadier General Hennadii Shapovalov, Ukraine's Southern Operational Command chief, announced his resignation on Feb. 4 after he was appointed to the NATO military aid coordination center in Germany.

"It was an honor to be the commander of the troops of the Southern Operational Command chief — a powerful military team that has been courageously and selflessly defending the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine in all directions since the first days of the Russian-Ukrainian war," Shapovalov said in his statement.

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in mid-January Shapovalov's appointment to a new position coordinating military assistance to Ukraine in Wiesbaden, Germany.

The city hosts NATO's Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), a center established as part of key commitments at the allied summit in July 2024.

Shapovalov is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College, which trains senior officers of the U.S. military. He previously commanded Ukraine's 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade and was promoted to brigadier general in 2022.

The commander led the Southern Operational Command since April 2024 after replacing Andrii Kovalchuk amid broader military personnel changes.

North Korean troops absent from front in Russia’s Kursk Oblast since mid-January, Seoul says

“Since mid-January, there have been no signs showing North Korean troops deployed to the Russian Kursk region engaging in battle,” South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said, suggesting that heavy losses may have been one of the reasons for their withdrawal.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek