The president changed the command of the ATO, tightening his control over the law enforcers

Petro Poroshenko takes control over operation in Donbass

Photo: Reuters

President Petro Poroshenko reshuffled top managers and commanders in the Anti-Terrorist Center (ATC) and the Security Service. The new appointments shall have an impact on development of the anti-terrorist operation in the Donbas and will reinforce supervision of the Presidential Administration over material support for the law enforcers.

Already unhappy with Krutov

Yesterday President Poroshenko dismissed Lieutenant General Vasyl Krutov from the positions of the First Deputy Chairman of the SBU and the head of the Anti-Terrorist Center. Krutov was replaced by Colonel General Vasyl Hrytsak, who previously served as the First Deputy Chairman of the SBU – Head of the Chief Administration for the Fight against Corruption and Organized Crime. Both Krutov and Hrytsak had no relation to the operation prior to the appointment to commandment of the ATO. For example, Krutov was recalled to the service in mid-April, when representatives of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk controlled most of the Donbas. Now he was replaced after the Ukrainian military narrowed the area to half of its previous size and President Poroshenko called the liberation of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk this weekend the “turning point” in the ATO.

“Krutov has great achievements, but the situation has changed. We need other approaches. That is why the president made such a decision regarding personnel. The fact that Hrytsak is a manager from another generation speaks in his favor,” said Chairman of the Public Council at the SBU, MP Yuriy Samoylenko (Party of Regions). He believes that Krutov’s dismissal will not affect the operation. “Chiefs replace each other, yet the work at the headquarters of the ATO continues,” said Samoylenko.

Director of the Center for Military and Political Studies Dmytro Tymchuk believes this position should be given to someone who can ensure good coordination between the law enforcement agencies. Tymchuk is also convinced that Krutov did a poor job.

“There was a major problem with provision of interaction between different law enforcement agencies and Krutov spent more time in Kyiv than in the combat zone,” said Tymchuk.

He explained that even though the ATO is run by the SBU, the military actions are controlled directly by “combat generals” whose names he did not want to specify. “Chiefs of the SBU know little about military operations, which the ATO turned into long ago. Moreover, army generals are not legally responsible for anything. When there is no change in legislation, there should be at least some coordination,” concluded Tymchuk.

Capital’s source in the General Staff said that they began looking for a replacement for the head of the ATC a few weeks ago, but officially it was announced only after the reshuffling in the Defense Ministry. “Actually, the ATO is run by Viktor Muzhenko appointed Chief of the General Staff last week. The new head of the ATC will be required to fulfill other duties, more typical for the SBU. Those are the duties of control over the liberated territory, securing, location of the centers of resistance,” he said. Ex-Defense Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk believes the current challenge for the ATO command is to maintain the high pace reached over the past few last days. “The entire assignment will be entrusted with the military,” he said in a conversation with Capital.

All the president’s men

At the same time, former Deputy Chair of the SBU Oleksandr Skypalskiy believes that Krutov’s replacement with Hrytsak is controversial. The latter, according to Skypalskiy, has never had any experience in military operations, which is a disadvantage compared to Krutov, who has more than 20 years of anti-terrorist work under his belt. “Even provided that it is not a struggle against separatism regionally, it is still genuine combat experience,” said Skypalskiy.

Skypalskiy does not exclude that the old political ties stipulated Hrytsak’s appointment to position of the head of the ATC, which should enforce the influence of President Poroshenko not only on the development of the ATO, but in general on the SBU. This is also how he sees the appointment of Yuriy Artyukhov to the office of Deputy Head of the SBU, and Mykhailo Hluhovskiy, known for his war on corruption and organized crime, to the position of the head of the Chief Administration of the SBU in Kyiv and the Kyiv oblast. “Such shuffling is reminiscent of nepotism Yushchenko-style,” he said.

It is worth saying that Hrytsak reached the top of his career ladder during the presidency of Viktor Yushchenko, namely in 2005 – 2009, when he held senior positions in the SBU. Earlier the president did some reshuffling among law enforcers, appointing Valeriy Haletey to the post of Defense Minister and businessman Yuri Kosyuk to the position of Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration for Law Enforcement Affairs. Capital’s source in the PA said the primary task for the newly-appointed officials will be instillation of financial and thrifty discipline in the army and in the ATO zone, which currently receives essential financing from the state budget. The source says Hrytsak will have the same job. “All of them can be called Poroshenko’s men and everyone knows how to fulfill their tasks,” he said.

Yesterday representatives of the NSDC said the ATO forces are engaged in “active preparation for the release of Donetsk and Luhansk”.