President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appointed Hennadiy Shapovalov as commander of Ukraine`s land forces, replacing a commander who resigned over a Russian strike on a training area, writes Reuters.

Shapovalov, whose appointment was announced in a presidential decree, had previously acted as a liaison at a NATO coordination centre in Germany. Before that, he had served as commander of the forces of the Operational Command South.

Zelenskiy, speaking later in his nightly video address, said Shapovalov`s experience in working with NATO would be put to good use in introducing changes in Ukraine`s forces: "All this useful experience of this coordination and all the real combat experience of our soldiers must be applied now within Ukraine`s land forces. Changes are needed and this is an imperative".

Shapovalov takes over as head of land forces from Mykhailo Drapatyi, who tendered his resignation this month after a deadly Russian strike on a training camp in southeastern Ukraine. Zelenskiy reassigned Drapatyi to the post of commander of the joint forces as part of a military shakeup.