Zelenskiy appoints new commander of Ukraine's land forces

(Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday appointed Hennadiy Shapovalov as commander of Ukraine's land forces, replacing a commander who resigned over a Russian strike on a training area.

Shapovalov, whose appointment was announced in a presidential decree, had previously acted as a liaison at a NATO coordination centre in Germany. Before that, he had served as commander of the forces of the Operational Command South.

Zelenskiy, speaking later in his nightly video address, said Shapovalov's experience in working with NATO would be put to good use in introducing changes in Ukraine's forces.

"All this useful experience of this coordination and all the real combat experience of our soldiers must be applied now within Ukraine's land forces," he said.

"Changes are needed and this is an imperative."

Shapovalov takes over as head of land forces from Mykhailo Drapatyi, who tendered his resignation this month after a deadly Russian strike on a training camp in southeastern Ukraine.

Zelenskiy reassigned Drapatyi to the post of commander of the joint forces as part of a military shakeup.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Bogdan KochubeyEditing by Rod Nickel, David Gregorio and Paul Simao)