The choice of Syrsky as commander-in-chief is hardly a surprise because few in the Ukrainian military have the experience and know-how to be able to fill the shoes of his popular predecessor, General Valerii Zaluzhny.

Who is Colonel General Oleksandr Syrsky, Ukraine’s new army chief?

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Syrsky, who replaces General Valerii Zaluzhny, has been called ‘Hero of Ukraine’ for his battlefield successes.

Like most senior officers of his generation, Syrsky was born in Soviet Russia, in July 1965, and studied at a Red Army academy in Moscow.

In the 1980s he was deployed to Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.
But when the Soviet Union collapsed, he remained in Ukraine, studying at the National Defense University in Kyiv and joining the ranks of the newly independent Ukrainian army.
In 2014, he commanded Ukrainian troops fighting a Moscow-backed insurgency in the eastern Donetsk region and was given the call sign “Snow Leopard”.
In 2019, he became head of Ukraine’s land forces and led the country into war when Russia invaded in February 2022.
In the early months of the war, he was named a “Hero of Ukraine”, the country’s highest honor, because of his successful defense of Kyiv.

. . .the Ukrainian forces’ main goal this winter has been holding the territory it controls, as much-needed United States military aid is held up in Congress.

Who is Oleksandr Syrsky, the head of Ukraine's ground ...

The Economist

https://www.economist.com › 2023/06/08 › who-is-o...

Jun 8, 2023 — Who is Oleksandr Syrsky, the head of Ukraine's ground forces? The colonel-general is in operational control over the latest counter-offensive.

The Economist explains

Editor’s note: On February 8th Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, replaced Valery Zaluzhny with Oleksandr Syrsky as the commander of his armed forces.

Who is he, and how is he likely to prosecute Ukraine’s war effort?

Colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine visits his troops — image: reuters

Jun 8th 2023

As Russia's all out war in Ukraine races towards its third year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has fired his Commander-in-Chief. The Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell here with everything you need to know. 00:00 - 00:37 The news broke out: Volodymyr Zelensky has fired Zaluzhnyi 00:37 - 02:00 Reports about Zaluzhnyi to be fired 02:00 - 02:36 Zelensky and Zaluzhnyi in 2022: Icons of Ukrainian resistance 02:36 - 03:50 Ukraine’s counteroffensive and calling war “a stalemate” 03:50 - 04:54 Possible political reasons and Zaluzhnyi’s approval rating 04:54 - 05:29 What is Stavka and what its role 05:29 - 06:00 Did Zaluzhnyi had political ambitions? 06:00 - 07:20Who is Oleksandr Syrskyi? What he is known for? 07:20 - 08:01 What to expect next #ukraine #zelensky #zaluzhnyi #ukrainianarmy #syrsky #avdiivka #counteroffensive

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Feb 10, 2024  #Ukraine #Russia #UkraineWar 

Ukraine's new military chief faces uphill battle: What is the state of the war? | DW News

Officials in Ukraine say a Russian drone attack in Kharkiv has killed seven people- among them a six-month-old baby. The regional governor said the strike on Ukraine's second-largest city hit homes and infrastructure, causing several large fires.

This follows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's announcement of a new chief of staff just a day after he replaced his popular military commander-in-chief. The shake-up comes at a stage of the war when Ukraine is under pressure after months of limited battlefield victories.

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Moscow calls Ukraine's new Russian-born army chief a traitor, says he won't win

Reuters

February 9, 20242:08 AM PSTUpdated a day ago

Ukraine's President Zelenskiy visits Donetsk region

MOSCOW, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev on Friday said Ukraine's new Russian-born army chief was a traitor, while the Kremlin said the appointment would not alter the outcome of what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

Russian officials commented after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy replaced his country's popular army chief with his ground forces commander on Thursday, a huge gamble at a time when Russian forces are gaining the upper hand nearly two years into their war.

Zelesnkiy replaced the country's outgoing armed forces commander General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi with Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, 58.

Syrskyi was born in July 1965 in Russia's Vladimir region, which was then part of the Soviet Union.
Like many people of his age in Ukraine's armed forces, he studied in Moscow - at the Higher Military Command School - among peers who have since become Russian commanders.
He served for five years in the Soviet Artillery Corps and has lived in Ukraine since the 1980s.

Dmitry Medvedev, an ex-president who is now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, accused Syrskyi, who did not serve in post-Soviet Russia's army, of breaking his oath as an officer.

"Looking at the biography of the new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces Syrskyi one feels a sense of hatred, contempt and disgust," Medvedev wrote on his official Telegram channel.

"Disgust for a man who was a Soviet Russian officer, but became a Bandera traitor, who broke his oath and serves the Nazis, destroying his loved ones. May the earth burn under his feet!," said Medvedev.

"Bandera" is a reference to Stepan Bandera, a World War Two-era Ukrainian nationalist who collaborated with Nazi Germany to fight against the Red Army. He is regarded as a freedom fighter by some Ukrainians but as a traitor by many Russians.

Separately, the Kremlin said it did not believe that a change at the top of Ukraine's military leadership would alter the outcome of the conflict.

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:

“We don’t think these are factors that can change the course of the special military operation operation," using Moscow's preferred term for its campaign in Ukraine.

Reporting by Reuters Writing by Felix Light Editing by Andrew Osborn

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