KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko shook up his faltering military Thursday, appointing a new defense minister and top general while speaking about the years of decay and corruption that left the forces unable to deal effectively with the well-armed eastern insurgency.

Poroshenko denounced the "complete collapse" of the government's ability to supply the armed forces in a sometimes angry, finger-wagging speech in parliament.

He won quick approval for his choice of former top police official Valery Heletey as defense minister, replacing Mikhailo Koval.

He also tapped Lt. Gen. Viktor Muzhenko as chief of the military's general staff and Yury Kosyuk, an agriculture magnate and one of Ukraine's richest men, to oversee defense issues in the presidential administration and to help "purge the army of thieves and grafters." Accusations of corruption have been rife as Kiev's operation against the rebels continues.

"Today the revival of the army is starting from scratch, an army which is capable of fighting and winning," Poroshenko said.

Ukraine and the West say Russia is helping arm the rebels and letting its citizens cross the border to fight, while key allies France and Germany are pushing Poroshenko to pursue talks instead of attacks.

The president's forceful words and demeanor contrasted with his emphasis on starting a peace process in his inaugural address June 7. He declared a unilateral cease-fire for 10 days in hopes that rebels would lay down their arms and join talks. But the cease-fire was repeatedly violated and ultimately expired.

Foreign ministers from Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France are pushing to get talks going again by Saturday, with the aim of achieving a cease-fire honored by both sides.

Rebels in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where more Russian speakers live, have declared independence and occupied government buildings.

The insurrection, in which more than 400 people have died, started after pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych was driven from office by a protest movement among people wanting closer ties with the European Union instead of Russia. Russia called Yanukovych's ouster a coup by radical nationalists and seized Ukraine's Russian-speaking Crimea region.

In Donetsk, many people just want the fighting to be over. The city center was the scene of a gunfight in broad daylight Tuesday when separatists from the self-described Donetsk People's Republic attacked a police building,

"We are tired of war. Our only wish is for all of this to be over so we can work in peace," said Anton Orlets, a 58-year-old businessman. He expressed "hope that the new appointments will help the Ukrainian army achieve success, which so far has not been terribly noticeable in Donbass."

Nadezhda Grishko, a 32-year-old shop assistant, said she was "afraid that they will start bombing the east even harder to show their success in the operation to the Kiev government. But the harder they press us, the stronger the Donetsk People's Republic will become."

Vadim Karasev, director of the Institute for Global Strategies in Kiev, said Poroshenko "is facing pressure from below."

"Society is demanding results, a continuation of the revolution, completion of the anti-terrorist operation" -- the official term for the battle against the separatists.

Heletey's background in the police is significant, said Karasev, adding that Poroshenko "understands that a military official should not head the ministry, because the military is becoming stronger and seeking political influence."

Information for this article was contributed by Yuras Karmanau and Greg Katz of The Associated Press.

A Section on 07/04/2014