Ukraine's president replaces a top security official in new reshuffle as exhausted troops struggle

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has replaced a top security official with the head of Ukraine's foreign spy agency in a new reshuffle that comes as Russian forces press with ground attacks along the front line.

Zelenskyy dismissed Oleksii Danilov, who served as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, thanking him for his service in a video address late Tuesday. The president gave no reason and said, without providing details, that Danilov will be “reassigned to another area.”

Zelenskyy replaced him with Oleksandr Lytvynenko, who served as head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service.

The National Security Council is a policy coordination body that is chaired by Zelenskyy. Danilov had held his position since October 2019, a few months after Zelenskyy took office.

The dismissal follows Zelenskyy's decision in February to fire Ukraine’s chief military officer, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, and replace him with Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi. Tensions between Zaluzhnyi and the president grew after Ukraine’s much-touted 2023 summer counteroffensive failed to reach its goals. This month, Zaluzhnyi was named Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Danilov's dismissal comes as exhausted Ukrainian troops struggle with a shortage of personnel and ammunition and face growing Russian pressure along the front line that stretches over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

On Wednesday, Russian airstrikes hit residential buildings in the northeastern city of Kharkiv near the border, killing at least one resident and wounding several others, local officials said.

In a post on his Telegram channel, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said 16 people were wounded in the strikes, which also damaged the Kharkiv institute for emergency surgery.

The Kharkiv region cuts across the front line where Ukrainian and Russian forces have been locked in battles for over two years since Moscow’s invasion.

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Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Oleksandr Lytvynenko attends a forum in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy replaced Oleksii Danilov as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council with Lytvynenko, who served as the head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

FILE - Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of National Security and Defense Council, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 17, 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has replaced one of the country’s top security officials with the head of Ukraine’s foreign spy agency in a new reshuffle as the war with Russia drags into a third year. Zelenskyy dismissed Danilov, who served as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, thanking him for his service in a video address late Tuesday March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

An injured man walks past a body of a man who was killed by a Russian strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

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