President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky met with Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny. The discussion was about updating the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including changing the commander-in-chief. Zelensky appointed Colonel General Alexander Syrsky as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
About it reports publication Censor.NET, citing President’s Telegram channel. Zelensky thanked Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny for two years of defending Ukraine and discussed with him what kind of renewal the Armed Forces of Ukraine need. The question was also about updating the leadership, the publication quotes the president:
“The time for such renewal is now.”
The head of state invited Valery Fedorovich to continue to be on the team.
Kommersant publication clarifies, that during the meeting the renewal of the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was discussed. Zelensky and Zaluzhny talked about what changes the Armed Forces of Ukraine need, as well as what “new approaches and strategies” are needed. It was also discussed who could be “in the updated leadership of the Ukrainian armed forces.”
“We just met with the Supreme Commander. An important and serious conversation. The 2022 goals are different from the 2024 goals. Therefore, everyone must change and adapt to new realities,” says a message on Valery Zaluzhny’s Telegram channel.
Vladimir Zelensky in his evening address said:
“Starting today, a new team begins to lead the Armed Forces of Ukraine […]. I appointed Colonel General Syrsky as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I am grateful to General Zaluzhny for two years of defense […]. Today we talked openly about what requires changes in the army. I suggested that General Zaluzhny continue to be with the team of the Ukrainian state. I will be grateful for his consent.”
Zelensky called Syrsky “the most experienced Ukrainian commander” and recalled that he commanded the successful defense of Kyiv at the beginning of the war and then a successful offensive in the fall of 2022 in the Kharkiv region.
From July 27, 2021 until today, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was General Valery Zaluzhny. Before the presidential video address, a meeting between Vladimir Zelensky and Valery Zaluzhny was reported. Messages from the office of the president and the retired commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces spoke about the need to update the country’s armed forces.
At the end of last year, numerous observers and media sources reported a conflict between Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and Valery Zaluzhny. The military general, who managed to stop the Russian invasion and recapture part of the occupied territory, is now one of the most popular people in Ukraine, writes Air Force. According to Western media, Zelensky was irritated by the growing popularity of Zaluzhny and his interviews, in which he announced a deadlock at the front and a transition to trench warfare.
What is known about General Alexander Syrsky, the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine? He was born on July 26, 1965 in the village of Novinki, Kirzhachsky district, Vladimir region. Graduated from the Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School. He began his service in 1986 in the Soviet Army as a commander of a motorized rifle platoon.
By the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation – commander of the Ground Forces. He commanded successful operations for the Armed Forces of Ukraine – the defense of Kyiv and the offensive in the fall of 2022 in the Kharkov region. After the Kharkov offensive, they began to talk about him as a possible replacement for Zaluzhny, about whose friction with the President’s Office they wrote even then.
In 2023, Syrsky commanded the battles for Bakhmut, which were much less successful for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Russians managed to capture the city and its surroundings, and the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, launched in May 2023, did not lead to significant successes and actually stopped in December. The dispersion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ forces into Bakhmut is cited in Western media as one of the reasons for the failure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ offensive in the south.
How reported UP publication, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree dismissing Valery Zaluzhny from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces (presidential decrees No. 59/2024, No. 60/2024): “Dismiss Valeriy Fedorovich Zaluzhny from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” By another decree, Zelensky appointed Alexander Syrsky as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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