Zelensky Looking To Replace Chief Of Army?

Russia-Ukraine The musical chairs inside of Zelensky’s cabinet is once again moving, who could have thought we would be discussing both the removal of Fedorov AND Sryskyi just days apart, but here are. Oleksandr Syrskyi has run Ukraine's Armed Forces since February 2024, when the decree dismissing Valerii Zaluzhnyi was signed and Syrskyi was named in his place. He made his name on the ground, and his critics have long placed him in an older, Soviet school of command that leans on attrition, moves slowly on reform, and holds ground at heavy cost.

The current crisis began as a win for that old guard. On 14 July, Zelenskyy reshuffled his cabinet and dropped Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, the young minister credited with boosting Ukraine's drone warfare during a six-month tenure. Fedorov had clashed with Syrskyi for months. When he went, the traditionalists looked like they had won. If you would like to read more of this check out our previous deep dive last week which goes into depth on Fedorov.

It backfired quickly. At his exit briefing on 16 July, Fedorov accused Syrskyi of working out how to split the country rather than how to beat Russia. Protests spread across more than a dozen cities, and demonstrators set a 24 July deadline to reinstate Fedorov and remove Syrskyi, or begin open-ended nightly rallies. The Financial Times reports he is prepared to dismiss Syrskyi if he can find a commander able to take over cleanly while holding the roughly 1,200km front. He spent the weekend with his generals.

I would say there are three leading names for the top job. Joint Forces commander Mykhailo Drapatyi, deputy General Staff chief Volodymyr Horbatiuk, and Air Assault Forces commander Oleh Apostol all met Zelenskyy for a front review, though Apostol has publicly urged the military to stay out of politics.

Then there is Skala. The 425th Assault Regiment is Ukraine's largest, reports directly to the top command, and is informally known as Syrskyi's regiment. Its commander was suspended in late June over a probe into torture and dozens of noncombat recruit deaths. This week its men were filmed in Kostyantynivka holding portraits of Syrskyi and Zelenskyy, then reappeared in Russian footage as prisoners, which the regiment confirmed. For Syrskyi, the timing could hardly be worse as the footage has been widely used as an example of the negative impact Sryskyi has had on the armed forces of Ukraine. Sources Available upon request