NEWSLASH: Zelenskyy dismisses army chief after public pressure

On July 21, Zelenskyy dismissed Oleksandr Syrskyi from his post as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — presumably listening to thousands of protesters’ requests to do so. This decision came on the sixth day of protests sparked by the dismissal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, as many Ukrainians feared post-Soviet military thinking had prevailed over modern warfare. 

Zelenskyy spent the days following this reshuffle talking with Ukrainian commanders, and just appointed a new Commander-in-Chief Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi. A representative of a new generation of commanders, Drapatyi gained combat experiencein 2014 during the initial phases of Russia’s war in Ukraine and is widely respected among Ukrainian troops. He is known for having driven an infantry fighting vehicle through a barricade erected by Russian-backed militants in Mariupol back then. 

Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Drapatyi has held a series of senior military posts and played key roles in several major operations. He took part in the liberation of Kherson, served as commander of Ukraine's Ground Forces, and later became commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The recent outcry over Zelenskyy’s appointments began on July 15, when the president dismissed Fedorov from his post as defense minister — the fifth time he dismissed a defense minister during his seven-year presidency. For the following days and into the weekend, thousands of people have been protesting outside the president’s office in Kyiv and in other cities across the country, amid what is considered one of the biggest political crises since the full-scale invasion, with two sharp demands: 

1. The dismissal of Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskii — now met.

2. The return of the Minister of Defense, Mykhailo Fedorov — still unaddressed.

Some of the protesters were also demanding the appointment of Mykhailo Drapatyi as Commander-in-Chief.

The protesters have given Zelenskyy a deadline: they will protest indefinitely starting on July 24 if the government does not meet the demands of civil society. For now, these protests are people-powered with no clear leader, and whether or not the move to dismiss Syrskyi is enough to quell protesters is still unclear.

Fedorov and Syrskyi, both in high-impact positions to influence the course of the war, have come to represent two opposite approaches to defending Ukraine — Fedorov as the young tech innovator behind some emerging battlefield tactics and Syrskyi as a general in favor of classic ground assaults. 

Oleksandr Syrskyi was appointed as Commander-in-Chief in 2024, following the dismissal of his predecessor, Valerii Zalyzhnyi, who is now the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.K. Before that, he was Commander of the Ground Forces. 

Many servicemen blame Syrskyi for unnecessary deaths on the frontlines. According to a recent Babel investigation, one of the assault regiments, considered to be under his direct lead, lost at least 26 servicemen, not connected with battlefield losses — the outlet captured cases of leadership inflicting severe torture on newly mobilized recruits, deaths due to poor medical treatment, and a number of suicides in the assault regiment. He is also criticized for launching controversial ground operations without proper reconnaissance, which critics associate with unjustified human losses on the Ukrainian side. 

Fedorov was the only lasting member of Zelenskyy’s original cabinet, having been appointed as the Minister of Digital Transformation in 2019. He then served 6 months as the youngest-ever defense minister before this shake-up.  

During Fedorov’s press briefing on July 16, the morning after he officially left office, the former minister said that it was Syrskyi’s ultimatum to Zelenskyy to dismiss him. Fedorov’s take is that the General Staff, who report to Syrskyi, have consistently blocked reforms in the army, with Syrskyi opting for “backroom political intrigue” and bureaucratic stonewalling rather than addressing systemic issues.

Syrskyi was then accused of mocking Fedorov’s press briefing in a Facebook post: 

“I am proud that, thanks to the Kyiv defense operation in 2022, we managed to defend our capital. And now, briefings can be held in this city, visions can be developed, and decisions can be made.” The account shortly restricted comments under the post.

The top brass of the Ukrainian Military has been targeting soldiers who voiced their support of the recent protests. They have also tried to force support from the soldiers currently serving, ordering different brigades to shoot videos supporting Syrskyi.

Some soldiers and veterans, unable to attend the protests, took to social media to criticize General Syrskyi and express support for the protesters. Some of them even renounced their medals and awards as a symbol of defiance against the current system of the Ukrainian Military. 

On the flip side, Syrskyi is linked to the successful lead on counteroffensive operations that resulted in the liberation of Kyiv and the Kharkiv region in 2022, the most prominent gains of the Ukrainian army in the first year of the full-scale invasion.