Ukraine\u2019s Soviet-trained top commander Oleksandr Syrsky \u2014 who could be sacked this week \u2014 led some of Kyiv\u2019s most decisive military campaigns, but clashed with reformers as drones and technology changed the face of war.<\/p>\n
His possible removal \u2014 reported to be under consideration by President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Ukrainian and foreign media \u2014 comes as Ukraine appears to be in its best position in the war for months.<\/p>\n
Syrsky halted Russia\u2019s advance on Kyiv after the 2022 invasion and led Ukraine\u2019s brazen counter-attack into Russia\u2019s Kursk region in 2024.<\/p>\n
But, born in Russia and trained in Moscow, the 60-year-old never managed to shake his reputation as a Soviet-style general.<\/p>\n
Critics accused him of not caring about the number of his troops killed, earning him the nickname \u201cbutcher.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is very tough, but an army general has to be tough,\u201d a high-placed Ukrainian official told AFP after his 2024 appointment as commander-in-chief.<\/p>\n
As fatigue \u2014 and anger at army scandals \u2014 grew, that approach grated.<\/p>\n
Zelensky\u2019s surprise ousting of reformist Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov \u2014 brought in to modernise the army \u2014 triggered the largest war-related demonstrations since 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cShame on Syrsky\u201d, young people in Kyiv chanted, calling for him to be removed.<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018Not a politician\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n
For a while, Zelensky appeared to side with Syrsky.<\/p>\n
To the Ukrainian leader \u2014 seen as mistrusting of those with political ambitions or popular appeal \u2014 the ever-loyal Syrsky, a career military man, was in many respects an ideal commander.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy job is war \u2026 I have no political ambitions. I deal with the war 24\/7,\u201d Syrsky said in a rare article published Monday.<\/p>\n
Analysts agreed Syrsky was not a threat to Zelensky, unlike his predecessor, the ultra-popular Valery Zaluzhny, who was removed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is not a politician. Just look at him. He speaks Ukrainian poorly and is not a public communicator,\u201d analyst Anatolii Oktysiuk of the KI Research Group in Kyiv told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always adapts to what Zelensky wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
That style is the root of the criticism he now faces.<\/p>\n
Syrsky \u201cbuilt a system in which initiative and independence are suppressed, while a loyal cadre of generals is promoted instead,\u201d Oktysiuk said.<\/p>\n
In a blistering attack after being ousted, Fedorov said Syrsky had hobbled his attempts at modernisation \u2014 on procurement, equipment and mobilisation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the initiatives we were proposing started to be blocked, and Syrsky \u2026 is not ready to look you in the eye and openly talk about those problems,\u201d Fedorov said.<\/p>\n
Syrsky rejected the charges and urged the matter be resolved behind closed doors.<\/p>\n
\u201cA war is won by real work, not by the public drama surrounding it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Russian roots \u2013<\/p>\n
Like many officers of his generation, Syrsky was born in Soviet Russia and studied at a Red Army academy in Moscow.<\/p>\n
In the 1980s, he was deployed to Soviet Ukraine, staying there to study at the National Defence University in Kyiv and joining the new Ukrainian army after the USSR collapse.<\/p>\n
Three decades later, his command of the Ukrainian language is far from perfect and his parents and brother still live in Russia.<\/p>\n
When appointed, his brother told Russia\u2019s state TASS news agency the pair had long stopped talking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not in touch with him \u2026 I don\u2019t know anything about him,\u201d he was cited as saying.<\/p>\n
After Ukraine attacked Russia\u2019s western Kursk region, a popular internet meme quipped: \u201cSyrsky explained the reason for the attack on Kursk: \u2018I just want to go home\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Discreet about his personal life, Syrsky is married and the father of two sons, an army spokesman told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018Younger version\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n
Even his critics acknowledge his military achievements.<\/p>\n
Syrsky led the defence of Kyiv when Russia tried to surround the city in the first days of its invasion.<\/p>\n
Six months later, he inflicted a humiliating defeat with a lightning counter-offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region.<\/p>\n
And then in 2024 he masterminded the Kursk attack \u2014 the first sustained foreign incursion into Russia since WWII.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t treat such a commander as someone whose contribution we don\u2019t fully appreciate,\u201d his rival Fedorov said last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the war has completely changed \u2026 The command-and-control system has changed, and we have to change.\u201d<\/p>\n
The question for Zelensky \u2014 and one being watched closely in Moscow \u2014 is what that change looks like.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat (Zelensky) needs is a younger version of Syrsky,\u201d said political expert Volodymyr Fesenko.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone more flexible, more communicative, and more appealing to society \u2014 but such a person does not seem to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ukraine\u2019s Soviet-trained top commander Oleksandr Syrsky \u2014 who could be sacked this week \u2014 led some of Kyiv\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[983],"class_list":["post-19375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}