Zelensky appoints Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrsky as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, replacing Valery Zaluzhny.

by SierraOscar

21 comments

  2. He was the head of ukraine ground forces, so looks capable.

    Hope they can make it work.

  4. It’s Zelensky’s prerogative to appoint who he sees fit to lead the military, but I’d say privately western allies will be sceptical. Syrskyi’s approach to the Battle of Bakhmut raised eyebrows, to say the least.

    This will not be a popular appointment, either amongst the military or the wider public. It’s a bold move – but maybe that’s what is needed now. Time will tell.

    I really don’t see how Ukraine will defeat Russia by engaging in Bakhmut like tactics though.

  5. I think they will lose Avdiivka soon and they don’t want to blame anybody.

  6. Many accounts in this thread pushing a narrative that would undermine confidence in the Ukrainian leadership… I’ll leave everyone to draw their own conclusions on that.

    Regarding the decision, **replacing military leadership during a conflict is a normal practice**. The Ukrainian leadership have a vision of (and path to) victory. The head of the armed forces needs to buy into that and be capable of supporting it, likewise the political leadership must enable them. If they believe Syrsky is the right man for the job then that’s good enough for me. There will be information and opinions that we do not have access to, and those will have influenced this decision.

  7. This decision could cost them the war. Syrsky is not as capable as Zaluzhny and prefers the old Soviet doctrine

  8. I thought very highly of Zaluzhny, really hope this isn’t a case of Zelensky getting high on his own farts and thinking he knows best about everything.

  9. It’s the perfect media storm. Reports of ammunition shortages, Russian troop concentrations, delayed support from the EU, nonexistent support from the US, struggling frontlines, the interview, and now this. Whoever is running the hybrid warfare department in the Kremlin needs to be Mossaded.

  10. Incredible ruZZian bots in this thread! Quick reminder to western readers: Syrsky was famed as the most successful General of the 21st century to date, for his efforts in the historical Kharkov and Cherson counterattack!

    Back to topic: I completely agree with Zelensky’s decision. A Manager needs to be replaced, if he doesn’t reach his goals. Zaluzhny did his job in 2022, but failed in 2023, so a new point of view is needed. One can’t blame everything regarding the unsuccessful counteroffensive on missing military support of western countries. In 2023 NATO generals disagreed with Zaluzhny’s decision on how to use the western equipment, that was spread too thin over the contact line. So it may be completely logical to get some fresh ideas into the military leadership, regarding retaking occupied territory and f*ck up ruzzian forces as much as possible.

  11. I suspect that Zaluzhny was not too keen on holding Avdiivka at all cost and lose a lot of soldiers in the process. Syrsky sems to be the type of commander that has no such problems and he is also Zelensky’s guy. Dude wanted to hold Bakhmut despite the fact that Ukraine was suffering serious casualties and the town was nothing more than rubble.

  13. changing millitary leadership after failure or a stalemate is a normal thing tbh

  14. Impossible redditors said this was propaganda and that goverement leaks have never been true.

  16. I do not proclaim to have knowledge of both Zaluzhny or Syrsky.

    They both have commanded different areas of the war with a mix of success and failures. Its a shame to loose Zaluzhny, hes a popular guy, but maybe it needs new thinking, time will tell what happens but that is an area of unknown, right now we have a fairly static front with small changes in certain areas and some gains on the russian front.

    A fresh look on things could be enough to get things done in some manor or It could also fail and cause collapse. We are not really privy to the information that Ukraine or the west has.

    What we do know is that NATO doctrine just does not work without everyone in that mode of warfare or without the equiptment and air supierority to apply it.

    Zaluzhny does care a lot about his soldiers and that is a very good thing, but there is a weakness to that in the form of hesitation, And I am not saying that is what he is doing, but maybe hes just not as willing to take risks that could lead to a breakout of the line. Again that could all be wrong and it could fall flat and find that the risks could cause more losses.

    Only the leadership know, and time will tell what awaits their decision, they can not hold forever, they have been at this for 2 years without much rotation. And right now without as much support from the west as they have had at the start of the war, things are quickly grinding to a halt to where they are focusing on attacks behind the front line that delay or disrupt russian suppies to the front line.

    There are a lot of defences and trenches on that front line and Ukraine has found itself digging in like the russians have, a move will need to be made soon as they have a defending advantage for now, but that will soon fade with low supplies or fatigued soldiers. Though the same could be said of Russian forces, it has not stopped them from making gains albeit but small with constant assults. The Red menace has slowed but its still crawling and it needs to be stopped.

  17. Overall I’m skeptical. But given that this change took place, I’m confident that this was carefully calculated hopefully by both Ukrainian and Western officials.

    Hoping for the best.

  18. Wasn’t he the one who led the successful Kharkiv offensive back in Fall 2022?

    If so, next best option next to Zaluzhny.

  19. From what I gather from those soldiers i follow.
    This will be welcomed as a hopefull change.

    Hiring and firing generals is a time tested practise

  20. Any Ukrainians want to chime in on whether there is any truth in the rumour circulating that his nickname is the butcher?

    But not for butchering Russians.

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