Ukraine dismisses Oleksandr Pavliuk as first deputy defense minister amid media reports he may head Ukrainian Ground Forces after Syrskyi’s departure

Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers has relieved Oleksandr Pavliuk of his position as first deputy defense minister, citing Pavliuk’s “transition to another job,” announced Taras Melnychuk, the government’s parliamentary representative.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov confirmed Pavliuk’s dismissal. Pavliuk himself has not commented on the situation, and the messages do not mention what his next appointment will be.

On February 9, the day after Zelensky appointed Oleksandr Syrskyi as the new commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, replacing Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the Ukrainian publication Dzerkalo Tyzhnia wrote that Pavliuk would take on Syrskyi’s former role as commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.