Ukraine suspends drone chief accused of Russia ties
Ukraine has suspended the chief of staff of its drone forces following reports that his family lives in Russia.
The decision was made after a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada security committee, the General Staff wrote in a statement on Telegram on Tuesday evening. It said that Ukraine’s top general, Aleksandr Syrsky, has decided that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) will “conduct an additional special inspection” with regard to Roman Gladky, the chief of staff of the Unmanned Systems Forces (USF).
Gladky will be “suspended from his official duties for the duration of the inspection,” the General Staff added.
The USF was created as a separate military branch in February. Gladky, a career military officer, was placed in charge of USF planning in August.
The probe was launched after Ukrainian media reported that Gladky’s wife has a Russian passport and resided in Crimea after the peninsula became part of Russia in 2014. It was also reported that Gladky’s daughter participated in swimming competitions under the Russian flag. Kiev considers Crimea to be under illegal occupation and bans unauthorized visits to the peninsula.
Several high-profile military bloggers criticized Gladky’s appointment, with the Deep State project describing him as “a person who never had anything to do with drones.” Popular blogger and activist Sergey Sternenko claimed that Gladky was appointed to “destroy the USF from the inside.”
The commander’s suspension comes amid a major government reshuffle. On Tuesday, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky fired the deputy head of his office and accepted the resignations of three ministers and two deputy prime ministers. Ukrainian media outlets have reported that Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba may also be replaced soon.
Zelensky has dismissed several senior military and political officials since the beginning of the conflict with Russia in 2022. Former top general Valery Zaluzhny lost his job earlier this year after the military leadership was heavily criticized for the failed 2023 summer ‘counteroffensive’.
Former Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov was also replaced in 2023. His reputation was damaged by corruption scandals that were believed to have contributed to setbacks on the battlefield.
