By Dan Peleschuk

Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi attends a meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and newly appointed top military commanders, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 10, 2024. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION… Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab Read more

KYIV, July 1 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s top general ordered military officials on Tuesday to prohibit troop buildups in tent encampments and to build new shelters at training centres to protect soldiers against deadly Russian air strikes.

The order by Oleksandr Syrskyi comes after a spate of Russian attacks focused attention on lax discipline at military bases as Ukraine struggles to fend off a bigger and better-armed Russian military.

Last month Mykhailo Drapatyi resigned as commander of Ukraine’s ground forces after a Russian missile strike killed 12 soldiers and wounded scores more at a training ground.

“My unconditional demand is to ensure and improve the safety of servicemen in training centres and at rear training grounds,” Syrskyi wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“The accumulation of personnel and military equipment, the placement of servicemen in tent camps is prohibited!”

As well as organising the construction of new shelters and dugouts, officials are also pursuing “additional engineering solutions”, he added.

In one recent attack, on May 20, a Russian missile killed six servicemen and wounded at least 10 others at a Ukrainian military shooting range. On June 22, three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and around a dozen wounded after a Russian missile struck a training ground for a mechanised brigade.

Announcing his resignation on June 1, Drapatyi, the ex-ground forces commander, said he wanted to set an example for other commanders by quitting.

“We will not win this war if we do not build an army where honour is not just a word but a deed,” he wrote on Facebook on June 1. “Where responsibility is not punishment, but the foundation of trust.”

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