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<\/p>\nZelenskyy thanked Syrskyi for his achievements in Ukraine\u2019s fight against Russia and praised him for the defense of Kyiv and for operations in Kharkiv and Kursk. <\/p>\n
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\u201cI am grateful to Oleksandr Syrskyi and to every one of our warriors for Ukraine\u2019s strong front-line positions,\u201d he said. \u201cI am grateful to Mykhailo Drapatyi for holding that same view.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drapatyi wrote in a Facebook post that serving Ukraine \u201chas always been an honor for me, and during this war for independence, it means absolute responsibility.\u201d He thanked Syrskyi for his consistent work strengthening the Ukrainian military. <\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up in it,\u201d he added, referring to the army. \u201cI will work responsibly, with focus and with respect for the people defending our state today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy said Drapatyi and other commanders must present an updated defense strategy, including continued reform of the corps system, faster weapons and drone deliveries, stronger air defense against Russian strikes and a clearer mobilization plan.<\/p>\n
Former defense minister\u2019s future in the government remains unclear<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy met separately with Fedorov on Tuesday and offered him what he called a respected position in the government that would unify the country\u2019s technology sector. It wasn\u2019t clear if Fedorov accepted the offer \u2014 or whether the latest moves would satisfy protesters and calm the streets.<\/p>\n
Fedorov congratulated Drapatyi, calling the appointment \u201cnew hope in the fight of free people for freedom and justice\u201d and \u201ca voice for change that could not go unheard.\u201d <\/p>\n
Fedorov had criticized Syrskyi publicly before his dismissal, saying the general was blocking his reform efforts and needed to be replaced for Ukraine not to fail in its resistance against Russia. He said Ukrainians\u2019 high expectations must now be met with a clear vision for ending the war, decisive action to preserve soldiers\u2019 lives, expand robotic warfare at the front, strike asymmetrically and exhaust Russia\u2019s economy. <\/p>\n
Fedorov called Syrskyi to thank him for defending the Kyiv region, the Kharkiv operation and other battles, calling it \u201calready an important part of Ukraine\u2019s history\u201d but adding that the country must \u201cmove even faster and write new chapters, correcting all previous mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The army chief\u2019s dismissal was sparked by protests <\/p>\n
The crisis began last Thursday, when Zelenskyy overhauled his wartime government, replacing his prime minister and firing Mykhailo Fedorov as defense minister after just six months in the post. <\/p>\n
Zelenskyy cited an unworkable rift between Fedorov and Syrskyi, telling reporters that as the two couldn\u2019t resolve their dispute, he would \u201chave to resolve it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following his dismissal, Fedorov publicly accused Syrskyi of blocking military reforms and fostering a top-down command culture, criticism that echoed complaints from soldiers and veterans over heavy casualties in costly front-line assaults.<\/p>\n
The reshuffle immediately drew thousands of protesters into the streets of Kyiv and other cities, framing Fedorov\u2019s removal as Zelenskyy siding with an entrenched military old guard over a reformer.<\/p>\n
The backlash promptly spread to inside the military: the Air Force\u2019s deputy commander resigned in protest, warning the move would weaken Ukraine\u2019s air defenses; veterans and soldiers on leave joined the protests in Kyiv and other cities, and numerous public figures among soldiers spoke out publicly against Syrskyi on social media.<\/p>\n
Criticism of the military chief had escalated<\/p>\n
Syrskyi has long been associated with a Soviet-style, top-down command culture, and many protesters said they wanted a new generation of generals who would place a higher priority on preserving soldiers\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n
Within the military, Syrskyi has earned the gruesome nickname of \u201cButcher,\u201d which particularly spread during his command of the defense of Bakhmut, one of the war\u2019s longest and costliest battles.<\/p>\n
His already precarious public standing eroded further after Ukrainian outlet Babel published an investigation in June detailing allegations of abuse within the Skelia assault regiment, a unit closely associated with Syrskyi that has reportedly suffered higher-than-average battlefield losses. The investigation documented dozens of deaths among recruits.<\/p>\n
Hanna Arhirova, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zelenskyy thanked Syrskyi for his achievements in Ukraine\u2019s fight against Russia and praised him for the defense of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[247,361,354,362,353,355,356,82,358,359,360,357],"class_list":["post-19547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-central-vancouver-island","tag-nanaimo","tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","tag-nanaimo-news","tag-nanaimo-news-now","tag-nanaimonewsnow","tag-news","tag-oceanside","tag-parksville","tag-qualicum","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19547","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=19547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}