Kyiv, Nov 20 (EFE).- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has replaced the head of the Army Medical Forces Command due to the need to offer “another level of medical support” for the military.
“Upon the submission of the Minister of Defense, I have changed the commander of the Medical Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in his address to the nation last night.
The new head of medical services is Major General of the Medical Service Anatoliy Kazmirchuk, who until now headed the National Military Medical Clinical Center in Kyiv. Kazmirchuk replaces Tetiana Ostashchenko as head of military doctors.
Among Kazmirchuk’s tasks for a “fundamentally new level of medical support for our military” will be to offer “high-quality tourniquets to full digitalization and transparency in supply, from high-quality training to sincere communication with combat medics,” Zelenskyy said.
The leader referred to societal debate about the state of military medicine in Ukraine. According to professionals in the sector contacted by EFE, medical training is one of the glaring gaps in the Ukrainian army, which largely makes up for this deficit with volunteers.
“The experience of the effectiveness of specific units should be extended to the entire defense forces,” Zelenskyy added.
The Ukrainian president announced that he and his defense minister set a series of priorities and “there will not be much time to wait for results. Changes need to be made quickly,” he said.
In his speech he also declared an immediate priority with international partners is “to make sure that support for Ukraine will be sufficient next year as well.”
Zelenskyy added that “we continue to prepare for the planned international events this week. There will be an important activity – new communication with our partners.”
Citing anonymous sources, international media have reported that European Council President Charles Michel will visit Ukraine on Tuesday to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Maidan Revolution, which in February 2014 overthrew Ukraine’s last pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych.
“I thank all the countries considering this issue in the same way as we do. This signal must be sent to Russia: no matter what they do, the world will not get tired of defending freedom and international order,” Zelenskyy said about the prospects of maintaining international support in 2024.
He also thanked the Netherlands for its commitment made public last week to allocate more than €2 billion in assistance to Ukraine next year. EFE
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