Yurii Sodol

Yurii Sodol (Содоль Юрій Іванович; born 26 December 1970) is a Ukrainian lieutenant general and was the Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from February to June 2024. Before that, he commanded the Ukrainian Marine Corps from 2018 to 2024.

Early life and career
Sodol was born on 26 December 1970 in Chuhuiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. He served in the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces, and until 2015 he was the commander of the 25th Airborne Brigade. From 2015 to 2018 he was the First Deputy Commander of the Air Assault Forces.

In March 2018 the Marine Corps Command was established as a new organization within the Ukrainian Navy, and Yuri Sodol was appointed its Commander. He was also promoted to lieutenant general. In May 2023 the Marine Corps was separated from the Navy to become an independent branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Sodol remained in this role until February 2024 and is credited with modernizing Ukraine's Marine Corps along NATO standards during his tenure.

Commander of Joint Forces
In mid-February 2024 he was appointed as the commander of the Ukrainian joint forces at the front line. Sodol's appointment followed the dismissal of Valerii Zaluzhnyi from his role as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Complaints
On 23 June 2024, Lieutenant Colonel Bohdan Krotevych, one of the commanders of the Azov Brigade, filed an official complaint with the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). Krotevych has called for an investigation into the actions of an unnamed military general, accusing him of causing more Ukrainian soldier casualties than any Russian general.

While Krotevych did not disclose the general's name in his statement, sources from Ukrainska Pravda suggested that the general in question was Sodol.

For a long time before his dismissal, the People's Deputy Maryana Bezuhla was calling Sodol in interviews and on social media a "criminal" and a "murderer" on a daily basis.

On 26 June, The Washington Post published an article, which, according to them, published statements from Krotevych's letter to the SBI. The letter stated that Sodol did not lead the defence of Mariupol and did not spend an any hour in the city, but was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine; that Sodol did not supply the Azov Brigade with ammunition or build defences in Mariupol before the offensive; that when one of the superiors in the city asked Sodol for instructions, Sodol replied: "We are finished" and hung up; that Sodol recently ordered Azov to advance without artillery ammunition and that when arguments were made as to why this was not possible, an internal investigation was launched against the Azov commander; and that Sodol's decisions led to the deaths of thousands of soldiers, resulting in a weak position on the frontline and the loss of a large amount of territory.

Also, according to Ukrainska Pravda, Sodol as commander of Khortytsia operational-strategic group was responsible for preparing the defence before the repeated Russian offensive on Kharkiv oblast. Sodol also was in charge of the amphibious operation to establish a bridgehead on the Dnieper in 2023, with fighting taking place at the village of Krynky in the Kherson Oblast. By June 2024, the operation failed and the Ukrainian marines took heavy casualties.

On 29 June, the Ukrainian media Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing its own sources, that the SBI had replied to Krotevych that it would check General Sodol's actions during the Russian offensive. Earlier, on 28 June, Krotevych stated that he had received a response from the SBI, but was dissatisfied with it.

Dismissal
On 24 June 2024, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the replacement of Lieutenant General Yurii Sodol as the Commander of the Joint Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Brigadier General Andrii Hnatov was appointed as his successor. Hnatov's appointment was very positively received by the Ukrainian military and he was described as an experienced military officer.

Awards

 * Hero of Ukraine (28 February 2022)
 * Order of Bogdan Khmelnytsky, 3rd class (22 January 2015)
 * Order for Courage, 3rd class (14 October 2014)
 * Medal For Military Service to Ukraine (3 December 2010)
 * Medal "For conscientious service" 2nd class
 * Medal "15 years of the Armed Forces of Ukraine"
 * Medal "Veteran of the service"
 * Award of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine "For Valor and Honor"
 * Badge "For Achievements in Military Service" 2nd and 1st classes
 * Badge "For Military Valor"