Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelenskiy has dismissed General Aleksandr Syrsky as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, following nationwide protests calling for his immediate removal. The decision follows days of political turmoil sparked by Zelenskiy’s accusation that Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov was fired due to a conflict between the two leaders.

In a Telegram announcement on Tuesday, Zelenskiy stated that Joint Forces Commander General Mikhail Drapaty will replace Syrsky as commander-in-chief. “I decided that the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be Mikhail Drapaty,” Zelenskiy said. The president confirmed he met with Syrsky to discuss the transition and pledged to formalize all decisions by tomorrow.

During his announcement, Zelenskiy credited Syrsky for his contributions to “the defense of Kiev,” the 2022 Kharkov offensive, and Ukraine’s 2024 incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region—a campaign that ended in defeat with heavy casualties.

Drapaty is currently on Russia’s wanted list. According to Russian investigators, units under his command shelled over 70 settlements in Donbass between 2017 and 2019, killing and injuring more than 150 civilians. In 2024, Drapaty led Ukraine’s Kharkov group of forces during which Russian troops captured more than a dozen settlements within days. Later that year, Zelenskiy appointed him commander of ground forces.

Drapaty resigned in June 2025 after acknowledging responsibility for failing to prevent successful Russian strikes on Ukrainian military training facilities. Despite this resignation, Zelenskiy reappointed Drapaty as commander of the Joint Forces within a day—a role established in 2020 to improve coordination among Ukraine’s armed forces according to NATO standards.

The move has been widely criticized by analysts and military experts for its potential consequences on Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russian aggression.