Ukraine’s president donned a bullet-proof vest Sunday and made his first trip to Kharkiv since the Russian invasion began in February, and while there he axed a high-ranking security official. The decision to travel to the country’s second-largest city was a pointed and public reassertion of Ukrainian control over the city, while the firing underscored both the strategic importance of Kharkiv and President Zelensky’s uncompromising stance on job performance in a time of war. 

In the early days of the invasion Russian forces tried to storm Kharkiv. Facing strong resistance, their advance stalled on the outskirts of the city, where some units remain. Russians have periodically shelled Kharkiv from these positions and last Thursday killed nine civilians, according to Ukrainian authorities. On the president’s Telegram channel a caption accompanying video footage of the destruction to date read, ”2,229 buildings have been destroyed in Kharkiv and the region. We will restore, rebuild and bring back life. In Kharkiv and all other towns and villages where evil came.”

Mr. Zelensky’s firing of the chief of the Security Service of Ukraine for the Kharkiv region, Roman Dudin, indicates that in the early days of the Russian assault something may have gone awry on the Ukrainian side. He said he dismissed Mr. Dudin “for the fact that he did not work on the defense of the city from the first days of the full-scale war, but thought only about himself.” 

Whether that accusation implied mere inaction or some kind of connivance with Russian authorities is anybody’s guess, but this was more than a simple termination: When questioned by a reporter as to Mr. Dudin’s motives, Mr. Zelensky answered cryptically, “The law enforcement officers will figure it out.”

It is likely, however, that the optics of Mr. Zelensky thanking Ukrainian soldiers for their service and handing out medals were meant as much for Moscow as for domestic consumption. As the BBC reported, that the president was able to travel there shows just how much the tide has turned in Ukraine’s second city because a few weeks ago, the morale-boosting visit would not have been possible. That report also said, “Kharkiv is only safe for now. Elsewhere, Ukraine very much appears on the back foot, with Russian artillery barrages forcing troops to retreat in the Donbas.”

The BBC also reported that Mr. Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said that 31 percent of the Kharkiv region’s territory was currently occupied by Russia, while 5 percent had been retaken by Ukraine after being occupied earlier. Mr. Zelensky also met with Kharkiv’s mayor and the regional governor to discuss reconstruction plans, reportedly urging them to “find cool projects” to help rehabilitate the ravaged city. One such project is said to involve the efforts of a prominent British architect, Sir Norman Foster, though some Ukrainians think those plans premature.

While Kharkiv itself looks to be safely in Ukrainian hands, the situation is delicate. There were uncorroborated reports of explosions after Mr. Zelensky’s visit. The Russians have dug into what positions they still hold outside the city and have shown no signs of retreating to the border as they have done in other spots. London’s Sunday Observer newspaper quoted an unnamed Ukrainian commander who said, “They are planning something,” adding: “We may only find out what it is when it happens.”