Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sacked the country’s commander-in-chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi, after days of widespread protests against the removal of the country’s popular defense minister.
His replacement, Mykhailo Drapatyi, 43, is a younger general often described as representing a newer generation of military leaders who have forged their careers during the current war with Russia.
The shake up comes after Zelensky last week fired defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov, 35, who had carved out a reputation for pioneering innovative approaches to technology and recruitment but clashed with other members of Ukraine’s defense establishment – including Syrskyi.
Syrskyi, 60, was born in Russia’s Vladimir region, then part of the Soviet Union, and studied at a Moscow military school alongside classmates who went on to become Russian commanders. Some critics described him as unimaginative but capable, and he was criticized for extending the defense of Bakhmut at great human cost.
His replacement, Drapatyi, was the commander of Ukraine’s Joint Forces, best-known for a viral 2014 video of him driving an armored infantry fighting vehicle through a separatist barricade in Mariupol.
Drapatyi was born in western Ukraine and attended a military school in Kharkiv – the city liberated by Ukrainian forces in 2022 after a brutal Russian occupation early in the war.
In his announcement of the shake-up, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Syrskyi for defending Kyiv and leading multiple offensive operations. “We share the same wish, which is victory over the enemy,” he added.
Afterward, Drapatyi vowed to work “responsibly, with focus and with respect” for Ukraine’s troops in fighting the war. He thanked Syrskyi for his work in strengthening Ukraine’s military over his long tenure, adding: “I grew up in its ranks.”
Syrskyi has been fighting Russia and its supporters since 2014, when he led Ukrainian troops against a Moscow-backed insurgency in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. “I have been in this war since 2014,” he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive 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 if the offer had been accepted.
His six-month tenure as defense minister coincided with Ukraine’s recent success on the battlefield – and so his removal, amid disagreements with Syrskyi, caused a backlash against the military chief.
Fedorov’s policies emphasized the strategic importance of new military technology, particularly drones, which have helped stymie Russian advances on the battlefield and inflict widespread damage on oil refineries deep inside Russia.
As protests against Fedorov’s removal continued, speculation surrounding Syrskyi’s future mounted. On Monday, Zelensky met with several of Ukraine’s top generals and his chief of staff issued veiled statements that “the position of society has been heard.”
Syrskyi, who rarely expresses himself publicly, wrote an opinion piece for local military media on Monday in which he apologized if he had offended Fedorov. He also claimed responsibility for establishing a drone unit as a separate military branch and rejected suggestions that he did not support the widespread use of drones.
“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 his appointment in a post on Telegram, saying “this is a new wind and a new hope in the struggle of free people for freedom and justice.”
He also called Syrskyi and thanked him for his efforts defending Ukraine.
CNN’s Tim Lister, Daria-Tarasova-Markina and Andrew Carey contributed reporting.
