Zelenskyy names new chief of general staff to enhance Ukraine's combat effectiveness

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Zelenskyy names new chief of general staff to enhance Ukraine's combat effectiveness

2025-03-17 08:22 Last Updated At：08:31

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday appointed Andrii Hnatov as the new chief of the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces, as the country looks to restructure and strengthen its military while its engaged in combat in Russia’s Kursk region and facing increasing pressure in Donetsk.

Hnatov replaced Anatoliy Barhylevych, who held the position since February 2024. The appointment was announced by the general staff via its Telegram channel Sunday.

“We are systematically transforming the Armed Forces of Ukraine to enhance their combat effectiveness,” Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said.

Barhylevych will now serve as the general inspector of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry. Umerov emphasized that Barhylevych would “remain part of the team,” overseeing military standards and strengthening discipline in the army.

Oleksandr Syrskyi remains in place as commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces.

Zelenskyy has made frequent personnel changes within the Ukrainian government and military since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.

This change in personnel comes as fighting continues in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine’s General Staff said that Ukrainian troops had been involved in eight combat clashes on Sunday.

Ukraine's army stunned Russia in August last year by attacking across the border and taking control of an estimated 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of land, but Ukraine’s forces are now in retreat — meaning Ukraine has all but lost a valuable bargaining chip, as momentum builds for a ceasefire with Russia. On Friday, Russia claimed control of Sudzha, the largest town that Ukraine had occupied in the Kursk region.

Ukraine is also battling under growing pressure in its eastern Donetsk region, where Russian troops have been advancing for months.

A judge ordered a Brown University professor not be deported. She was sent back to Lebanon anyway

2025-03-17 22:16 Last Updated At：22:20

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge wants to know why a doctor from Lebanon with a U.S. visa was deported, after he ordered that she not be removed until he could hear her case.

Dr. Rasha Alawieh, 34, had been granted the visa on March 11 and arrived at Boston Logan International Airport on Thursday, according to a complaint filed on her behalf by a cousin in federal court.

Alawiech, who had worked and lived in Rhode Island previously, was detained at least 36 hours, through Friday, and was going to be sent back to Lebanon, the complaint said. Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist, was to start work at Brown University as an assistant professor of medicine.

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin issued an order on Friday that an in-person hearing be scheduled Monday, with Alawiech brought to court.

“Whether or not she is in custody of the United States, the court anticipates proceeding with this hearing,” he wrote.

But by Saturday, the cousin filed a motion that customs officials “willfully” disobeyed the order by sending Alawiech back to Lebanon.

Sorokin gave the government until Monday morning to respond, prior to the start of the scheduled 10 a.m. hearing. The government's response was not publicly available.

Alawich has worked at Brown prior to the issuance of her H1B visa, the complaint said. It said she has held fellowships and residencies at three universities in the United States.

A spokesperson for Brown said Alawieh is an employee of Brown Medicine with a clinical appointment to Brown.

Brown Medicine is a not-for-profit medical practice that is its own organization and serves its own patients directly. It is affiliated with Brown University's medical school.