Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi after days of protests over the removal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
Zelensky named Mykhailo Drapatyi, 43, to replace Syrskyi. Drapatyi, commander of Ukraine’s Joint Forces, is often described as part of a newer generation of military leaders whose careers were shaped by the war with Russia.
Syrskyi, 60, was born in Russia’s Vladimir region, then part of the Soviet Union, and studied at a military school in Moscow alongside classmates who later became Russian commanders. He faced criticism over the prolonged defense of Bakhmut and the losses it entailed.
Drapatyi was known for a 2014 video showing him driving an armored infantry fighting vehicle through a separatist barricade in Mariupol. Born in western Ukraine, he attended a military school in Kharkiv.
Announcing the change, Zelensky thanked Syrskyi for defending Kyiv and leading multiple offensive operations. “We share the same wish, which is victory over the enemy,” he said.
Drapatyi said he would work “responsibly, with focus and with respect” for Ukraine’s troops. He thanked Syrskyi for strengthening the military over his long service, adding: “I grew up in its ranks.”
Syrskyi had fought Russia and its allies since 2014, when he led Ukrainian troops against a Moscow-backed insurgency in Donetsk and Luhansk after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. “I have been in this war since 2014,” he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in a 2024 interview. “The frontline is my life.”
Zelensky on Tuesday offered Fedorov a “prominent position in government that would allow him to unify the technical component of our state and ensure its development.” It was not clear whether Fedorov had accepted.
As protests continued, speculation about Syrskyi’s future grew. On Monday, Zelensky met top generals, and his chief of staff said “the position of society has been heard.”
In an opinion piece Monday, Syrskyi apologized if he had offended Fedorov. He said he had established a drone unit as a separate military branch and rejected claims that he did not support wider drone use.
“I can’t switch a million-people army to drones in two months and say, ‘Now this is how we’re going to fight,’” he wrote. “Aside from the fact that this is clearly a reckless venture, any experiment on this scale comes at the cost of our land and our people.”
Fedorov congratulated Drapatyi on Telegram, calling his appointment “a new wind and a new hope in the struggle of free people for freedom and justice.” He also said he had thanked Syrskyi for his efforts defending Ukraine.
