SerpApi.Org
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired the country’s armed forces chief after days of protests over Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy’s handling of the conflict with Russia, and anger with the Ukrainian leader’s earlier move to oust a defense minister closely linked to the country’s growing prowess in drone warfare.
Zelensky announced the decision in a televised address Tuesday evening after several meetings with senior military commanders, replacing him with another experienced commander, Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatiy.
“We have come a long way, the defense of Ukraine continues, and every soldier deserves to be treated with respect,” Zelensky said. “I am grateful to Oleksandr Syrskiy and to each of our soldiers for Ukraine’s strong positions on the front lines. I am grateful to Mykhailo Drapaty for sharing this very perspective.”
It is a pivotal moment in Ukraine’s four-year long defense since Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Syrskiy led the initial effort to protect the capital, Kyiv, in February 2022. He later planned a counteroffensive that regained a broad expanse of territory in the east. After Zelensky promoted him to commander in chief of the armed forces, Syrskiy oversaw Ukraine’s invasion of Russia’s Kursk province, the first time a country had invaded Russian territory since World War II.
The 60-year-old general had come under criticism for the costly defense of Bakhmut, one of the bloodiest battles of the war. After Zelensky appointed the tech-savvy Mikhailo Fedorov as defense minister earlier this year, the younger man began drawing acclaim for the success of Ukraine’s expanding drone campaign, which is reaching deeper into Russia to hit a wider range of economic and military targets.
After Zelensky removed Fedorov from his post last week, Fedorov accused Syrskiy of being too slow to adapt to his methods, saying the general had told Zelensky that one of them would have to go. Syrskiy has denied doing so, but the manner of Fedorov’s departure sparked a wave of protests, with thousands taking to the streets of Kyiv and other streets in protest.
Drapatiy, meanwhile, has publicly praised Fedorov, not just for his support for Ukraine’s drone program but also his attempts to help the armed forces to adapt more quickly to a changing technological environment.
Write to Anastasiia Malenko at [email protected]
