Zelenskyy replaces Oleksandr Syrskyi with Mykhailo Drapatyi as Ukraine's commander-in-chief

Under pressure from civil society and widespread protests across Ukraine, President Zelenskyy on Tuesday replaced General Syrskyi with Mykhailo Drapatyi as Ukraine's commander-in-chief. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed four-star General Oleksandr Syrskyi as commander-in-chief and appointed Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi to replace him, well into the fifth year of Russia's all-out war against Ukraine. Zelenskyy announced the decision after days of mass protests across the country, triggered by the dismissal of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov over what he said was an increasingly fiery clash with General Syrskyi. Zelenskyy said that after numerous consultations with the military command over the past few days, it has been “determined how the structure of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is to be reorganised.” Zelenskyy also praised General Syrskyi for his contribution to Ukraine’s defence. “It is a fact that Oleksandr Syrskyi ensured Ukraine’s success in the defence of Kyiv, in the Kharkiv offensive and in the Kursk operation,” Zelenskyy said. “The defence of Ukraine continues, and every soldier deserves to be treated with respect,” he added, referring to widespread criticism of Syrskyi's military management style and lack of support in the military. “We all share the same desire, to defeat the enemy and to create conditions on the front line and exert sufficient pressure on Russia to force it to make peace.” General Drapatyi previously praised Fedorov’s six-month tenure at the defence ministry, saying he saw a genuine effort to change long-standing military rules and tackle problems the system had grown used to ignoring. Supporting Fedorov’s push for faster decision-making and a change in approach, Drapatyi, like Fedorov, has called for a systematic overhaul of the army. “The military needs change, but without justice, no change will make sense to the people who carry this war on their shoulders every day,” the general said in a Facebook post last Thursday, backing Fedorov the day after his dismissal. “A commander has no right to remain silent about problems, especially when their cost is measured in lost opportunities, time and human lives," Drapatyi said. "Silence does not protect the army, it only allows mistakes to accumulate until they become much more difficult to correct.” Who is Ukraine’s new commander in chief? Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi has built a reputation as a favourite among civil society activists and many in the military. He had been leading the Joint Forces, the newly-created command covering the front line in and around the northeastern Kharkiv region. Since taking charge of the area in autumn of last year, Ukrainian units, including the Khartiia Brigade, have recaptured swathes of territory around Kupiansk, which had been under threat from Russian troops. Before that, Drapatyi led the Dnipro operational-strategic group (OSUV), a wider eastern command that Syrskyi dissolved in October 2025. As Russia’s initial invasion of eastern Ukraine escalated in 2014, Drapatyi, then a major and battalion commander in the 72nd Mechanised Brigade, was sent into the battle for Mariupol, which was briefly occupied by Moscow's army. An armoured vehicle from his unit later gained lasting fame after breaking through a barricade erected by Russian forces on one of Mariupol's main streets. What about Fedorov? Last week's decision to dismiss Defence Minister Fedorov has turned Zelenskyy’s latest wartime reshuffle into a political crisis of his own making. The removal of the reform‑minded, tech‑savvy minister — widely supported by civil society and within the armed forces — immediately sparked a wave of anger, with critics accusing Zelenskyy of siding with Syrskyi and entrenched military hierarchies over a figure associated with transparency, cleaner procurement and better conditions for soldiers. Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a military veteran and protest organiser on Monday has set out a list of demands to the president. These include dismissing Syrskyi as commander‑in‑chief and reinstating Fedorov as defence minister. “If by Friday, 24 July, Syrskyi is not dismissed and Fedorov’s candidacy for the position of minister of defence is not submitted, we will begin a general indefinite protest,” he warned. Zelenskyy made no further comment on the possible return of Fedorov to the defence ministry after announcing his decision to let go of Syrskyi.