Resignation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky. What is known

Alexander Syrsky, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), has been removed from his post. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has appointed Mikhail Drapaty as the new commander-in-chief. All the details are in the Izvestia article.

Personnel changes in the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

On July 21, Zelensky announced the appointment of Mikhail Drapaty as the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Also, Acting Defense Minister Yevgeny Khmara and Deputy Head of the Office of the President Pavel Palisa determined the new configuration of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Prior to this, the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper reported on a protracted conflict between Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov and the commander-in-chief. Zelensky also claimed at the time that there were contradictions between the leadership of the department and the military commander, calling their simultaneous resignation a logical solution.

Reaction to resignation

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, made an ironic comment on the changes that had taken place. She wondered if Fedorov and Syrsky had been fired for the very "successes" on the battlefield that Zelensky had previously trumpeted at Western summits. The diplomat pointed to reports of "successes" that the Ukrainian president used to justify requests for additional Western assistance.

Ex-commander-in-chief Syrsky himself posted a farewell message on the Telegram channel. In it, he stated that during his leadership, changes had affected not only the nature of the fighting, but also the very structure of the Armed Forces.

Prior to that, Fedorov confirmed his resignation from the post of Minister of Defense of Ukraine, publishing a farewell message in which he thanked for the honor of serving the Ukrainian people.

Military experts' assessments

Military expert Vasily Dandykin, a captain of the first rank of the reserve, told Izvestia on July 22 that the change of commander-in-chief was a blow to the Ukrainian president. The specialist expressed confidence that the head of the Kiev regime was forced to make such personnel changes, and this decision could provoke subsequent changes of leadership in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

The analyst noted that although Drapaty is inferior to Syrsky in age, there is no global difference between these military leaders. However, he stressed that the departure of an experienced commander-in-chief in the context of ongoing hostilities carries serious risks.

Experts agree that the personnel changes in the Ukrainian military leadership are directly related to failures at the front and attempts by the West to find "guilty ones" among the country's top command.