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As of 1500 hours Tuesday, 21 July, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has removed Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi as the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s armed forces.
The General’s removal has followed days of mass protests in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, as well as in other cities nationwide, with the crowds demanding his removal.
Zelensky has appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new army chief, according to a statement on Ukrainian social media channels.
The removal of Syrskyi is seen as Zelensky responding to these protests, which erupted spontaneously after the removal of the popular Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. These protests and the parallel internal power struggle have turned into the most frantic leadership crisis of Zelensky’s presidency.
Zelensky announced Syrskyi would be replaced by Drapatyi in a post on Telegram. “I have decided that Mykhailo Drapatyi will become the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Together with Mykhailo, Yevhen Khmara [acting Defense Minister] and Pavlo Palisa [Deputy Head of the President's Office], we have determined how the structure of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine should be renewed.”
“It is a fact that Oleksandr Syrskyi delivered results for Ukraine in the defense of Kyiv, the Kharkiv counteroffensive and the Kursk operation. We have come a long way; Ukraine's defense continues, and every soldier must be treated with dignity. I am grateful to Oleksandr Syrskyi and to every one of our soldiers for ensuring Ukraine maintains strong positions on the front.”
“I am grateful to Mykhailo Drapatyi for sharing this vision precisely. Today, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Andrii Hnatov [Chief of the General Staff] and I discussed their future roles in the military and the proper handover of responsibilities.”
Following Fedorov’s Program
The Ukrainian president also said the plan, already well underway, for Ukraine to conduct long-range strikes on targets deep inside Russia will continue to be implemented precisely as originally intended.
Drapatyi, Khmara and the other commanders are now supposed to prepare an updated national defense strategy for Ukraine, and also complete an outline for actions required to reform the military’s personnel corps system.
Zelensky also singled out methods and solutions for protecting Ukraine's skies from Russian attacks and developing a realistic vision for mobilizing more military personnel as top priorities.
In June 2026, Syrskyi had announced a proposed program to recruit foreign military personnel as a means of addressing the military’s problem with procuring enough soldiers to meet required manpower levels.
“We are opening the market for the recruitment of foreigners to strengthen combat units and preserve the lives of Ukrainian troops,” he wrote in his Telegram announcement. Which is why “our goal is to fill up to 30 to 50 percent of assault and infantry positions with foreigners,” Syrskyi said at the time.
Zelensky had reportedly spent the past weekend speaking to other top Ukrainian military commanders in what appeared to be something of an interview process to select Syrsky’s potential replacement.
It is unclear whether the former Defense Minister, Fedorov, will be re-appointed to some government position, and if so, in what organization and holding what portfolio.
The Need For Changes
“Change is inevitable,” Fedorov had said in a post on social media Saturday. “The dialogue is happening. I believe we will succeed.”
Zelensky had not provided any reason for his firing of Fedorov last week, but what he did say was he was effectively presented with a choice between his defense minister and Syrskyi.
The latter was still the Commander-in-Chief of the military at the time, but he and Fedorov were no longer communicating with each other, said Zelensky.
But the Ukrainian president seemed at the time to believe that removing Syrskyi would have immediate effects on the stability of Ukraine’s military disposition on the front line.
Fedorov confirmed his conflict with Syrskyi and said the General was not willing to discuss “problems” directly - and that the Armed Forces’ commander had resisted reform of Ukraine’s defense community.
He acknowledged the victories of Ukraine in the earliest days and weeks of the war and Syrskyi’s pivotal role therein, but he also added “the war has changed” because of drone advancements, he argued.
“Why is this trajectory breaking now, and why are we veering off course? There is such a risk. And the Ukrainian people have taken to the streets for that,” Fedorov said in a news conference.
The program that Fedorov had implemented demonstrated an increasing reach of Ukrainian drones that can hit strategic sites deep inside Russia, as well as critical Russian-held targets within Ukraine’s territory.
His being credited with the success of this campaign was one of the principal causes of the street demonstrations demanding his reinstatement as Defense Minister.
About the author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Director of Research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor's degree from DePauw University and a master's degree from Miami University in Ohio, specializing in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.
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