An army without Zaluzhnyi: Who is General Syrskyi, Ukraine's new Commander-in-Chief?

"Today, I met with Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi" is how President Zelenskyy began his address on the evening of 8 February, announcing that he had dismissed Zaluzhnyi from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

This revelation did not come across as abrupt either in the context of the report or to the Ukrainian public as a whole. Zelenskyy spent almost three minutes leading up to the announcement, which confirmed what the country had been anticipating for months.

For context, the conflict between Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyi has been on the news since the spring of 2022. The President's Office denied the existence of any friction, saying that reports of such conversations were Russian propaganda and that all discussions had been productive and businesslike.

Now, when discussing the change of commander-in-chief, Zelenskyy explained that a fresh approach to troop rotation, frontline management, mobilisation and recruitment was necessary.

Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, 58, who was the commander of the Ground Forces before his recent promotion, is to implement this different approach.

His appointment comes amidst fierce Russian pressure on Avdiivka, where fighting has moved from the outskirts to the city centre. The Russians have moved additional forces to this front, significantly intensified airstrikes and are trying to storm the city from the north and south. 

This is one of the first tasks for Syrskyi in his new position.

Another challenge is to replenish the Ukrainian army. The need to step up mobilisation measures has been discussed since the middle of last year. However, the Parliament only passed the first reading of the draft law on mobilisation earlier this week.

What is known about Oleksandr Syrskyi and what can we expect from the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine?

Graduate of the Moscow Military School, admirer of Plutarch and Clausewitz

"Troops, attention! In open order, right dress! Quick march!" This is how Oleksandr Syrskyi appeared on TV screens across the country in 2021. At the Independence Day celebrations, he commenced the solemn march of troops along Khreshchatyk, Kyiv’s main street. At that time, he had been commanding the Ground Forces for two years. 

Syrskyi is 58 years old. He was born in the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic, in the tiny village of Novinki, Vladimir Oblast. His father is also a serviceman.

Immediately after his appointment, Kremlin-aligned media outlets began reporting that Syrskyi’s family still lives in Russia. TASS, one of the main propaganda news outlets, supposedly found Syrskyi's brother, Oleg, living in Vladimir (a city near Novinki) and has no contact with his brother. Ukrainska Pravda has not been able to confirm or deny this information yet.

Syrskyi graduated from the Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School in 1986, which counts among its alumni Alexander Dvornikov, a Russian commander taking part in the so-called "special military operation" against Ukraine, and Serhii Naiev, Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"[My Soviet education] makes it easier to understand the actions of the enemy. You can predict what they might do in different situations," Syrskyi told ABC News in an interview after the outbreak of full-scale war.

He continued his education in the 1990s and 2000s at the National Defence University of Ukraine in Kyiv.

Syrskyi began his military career in 1986 as a platoon commander in the 25th Guards Motor Rifle Division of Lubny, Poltava Oblast. He rose through all levels of command and became the commander of the 72nd Mechanised Brigade in 2002.

In 2013, he served as First Deputy Chief of the Main Command Centre of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. His area of responsibility was facilitating cooperation with NATO. 

In February 2015, the Bars (Snow Leopard) group formed by Syrskyi covered the withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Debaltseve, Donetsk Oblast. At that time, the approximately 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers under his command faced almost 20,000 Russians. 

According to estimates by volunteers for the Book of Memory, a Ukrainian memorial project, 268 Ukrainian soldiers were killed on the Debaltseve front between 25 January and 18 February 2015.

It was amid this dramatic battle that the Minsk agreements, two treaties which aimed to freeze the contact line between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed insurgents and implement a demilitarised zone, were signed.

Syrskyi was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, third class, for his participation in the battle for Debaltseve.

Syrskyi was the head of the Joint Operational Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2016; the following year he commanded the Anti-Terrorist Operation, later renamed the Joint Forces Operation, in Ukraine’s east. 

In 2019, Syrskyi became the commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

His habits and lifestyle in 2023 were described by journalists in The Guardian:

"Syrskyi is described by his closest aides as ‘a military man through and through’. He is said to rise at 05:20 to do an hour of exercise before the working day and to have little interest in material things. ‘I sleep four and a half hours a night,’ he says. And before the full-scale war? ‘Maybe five hours,’ he laughs. ‘Five and a half on Sunday.’

He is known to take photographs of sunsets when he makes his weekly visits to the frontlines and he shares them with colleagues. On the bedside table at the moment are works by the Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz.

‘I’ll tell you something, reading [the Greek philosopher] Plutarch and other authors, and watching documentaries about ancient Greek history, they use the same war principles as we do in our time. Because the main principles of war stay the same,’ he says. ‘Nothing has changed. OK, maybe the sophistication of equipment has changed, [as has] the degree to which processes are automated’."

In an interview with the BBC in July 2023, Syrskyi spoke cautiously about the possibility of a quick victory for Ukraine: "We would like to see swift results. But in reality, it is practically impossible."

The main battles 

In his statement on the changes in the Armed Forces command, President Zelenskyy called General Syrskyi "the most experienced commander".

Syrskyi did play a significant role in several of the Ukrainian army's defining operations after the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale invasion, most notably the successful defence of Kyiv in February-March 2022. It was Syrskyi who was responsible for preparing both the capital itself for defence and erecting a line of deterrence at the notional boundary of the Irpin River.

"The first call I made was to Syrskyi," recounts Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine. "My friend, are you there? Are you up there? ‘Yes I am!’ replied Syrskyi. I jumped into the car with General Serhii Deineko and rushed to the headquarters of the Ground Forces of Ukraine. We talked to Syrskyi.

He had a calm voice and clear answers, and his questions and commands were succinct. In the shortest possible time, with the help of the Special Operations Forces, the job was done," said Danilov, regarding the operation carried out in the first few days of the full-scale invasion to deliberately flood part of Kyiv Oblast and prevent the Russians from advancing.

On 18 March 2022, Syrskyi was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, second class, for the successful defence of Kyiv and the liberation of Ukraine’s north. Three weeks later, he was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine "for personal courage, and significant contributions to the defence of the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine".

After the Russians withdrew from Kyiv and the entire north, Syrskyi commanded two counteroffensive operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kharkiv Oblast. The first was in the spring of 2022, where he managed to push back Russian forces far enough north from the city of Kharkiv that it was no longer under threat from artillery fire. The second was in September of the same year when almost all of the seized territory in Kharkiv Oblast was liberated in a rather risky attack.

Up until his appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Syrskyi also commanded the Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group, which is responsible for one of the most difficult sections of the front line – that from Kupiansk and Kharkiv to Bakhmut.

That is why his name is associated with another major, gruelling battle – the Battle of Bakhmut.

The military community’s opinion of this operation is divided. On one hand, Ukrainian forces managed to defeat the Wagner Group, a Russian-backed "mercenary company" often considered more capable than the official Russian Army. On the other hand, during the 10-month defensive struggle, Ukraine suffered huge losses in several of its own most capable units, including the 93rd Brigade – this was one of the main causes of the tension between the then Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhnyi and Syrskyi.

While reporting from the frontlines, Ukrainska Pravda journalists repeatedly heard the military express their opinion that the city of Bakhmut, which had acquired the poeticised reputation of a "fortress", wasn’t adequately defensible in reality due to a lack of defensive fortifications. As one of the company officers of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, who goes by the alias "Foka", said to UP in an interview: "Bakhmut is only a fortress at the expense of dead Ukrainian soldiers."

Foka also emphasised the ill-conceived nature of some of the operations he had to take part in, including the attempt to liberate Kurdiumivka in late 2022. The 3rd Separate Assault Brigade was only given one day to plan the operation.

In April 2023, a member of the 93rd Brigade, who was in charge of transporting ammunition and provisions to Bakhmut at the time, told UP journalists that "we dig trenches at night ready for the Russians to occupy come morning."

This phrase described one of the main problems with the city's defence –  the insufficient quantity and quality of equipped positions.

It was largely the battles for Klishchiivka, Kurdiumivka, Soledar and Bakhmut – the most gruelling defence operations on the Bakhmut front – that gave rise to the perception of Syrskyi as a commander who placed too little value on human life. Western media outlets have repeatedly written that Ukraine lost more than it gained in the Bakhmut campaign.

Syrskyi's potential team

In today's address, Zelenskyy announced potential members of Syrskyi's team – brigadier generals. Some of them are under 40 years old.

Two of the five names announced, Pavlo Palisa and Vadym Sukharevskyi, are current brigadiers in combat brigades currently defending the Bakhmut and Avdiivka fronts and are "being considered for leadership positions in the army".

The list of people who may be transferred to the Ukrainian Armed Forces command is as follows:

• Andrii Hnatov – former chief of staff and deputy commander of the troops of the South (Pivden) Operational Command. In the spring of 2023, he was the head of the defence of Bakhmut. Prior to his service in Operational Command South (Pivden), he headed the 36th Marine Brigade, which was formed from units originally from Crimea. Hnatov himself also served on the peninsula before it was occupied by Russia.
• Mykhailo Drapatyi – until January 2024, he headed the Kherson operational group of troops. He is a former commander of the 58th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade named after Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi. In the summer of 2014, while still a member of the 72nd Brigade, Drapatyi led the breakout of Ukrainian forces from their encirclement near Chervonopartyzansk in Luhansk Oblast.
• Ihor Skybiuk – Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Air Assault Forces, and Hero of Ukraine. Before joining the command, he headed the 80th separate airborne brigade.
• Pavlo Palisa – the brigadier of the legendary Kholodnyi Yar 93rd separate mechanised brigade, which played a large part in the defence operation in Bakhmut. Prior to joining the 93rd Brigade, Palisa commanded the 5th Separate Assault Regiment (now the 5th Separate Assault Brigade). When the full-scale invasion started, he was in the United States, studying at the US Army Command and General Staff College.
• Vadym Sukharevskyi ("Borsuk") is a brigadier of the 59th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade named after Yakiv Handziuk, Hero of Ukraine. He served in the Marines and paratroopers. In 2014, he was the first to open fire on the Russians near Sloviansk to cover Ukrainian special forces despite an order to "hold fire".

As Zelenskyy promised, Syrskyi will present the team to "reboot the Armed Forces in the coming days".

On the other hand, the President's address didn’t clarify what fate awaits Yevhen Moisiuk, the commander of the Airborne Forces, and Mykhailo Zabrodskyi, Zaluzhnyi's adviser and former MP of the European Solidarity party. Regarding them, the President made a cryptic statement: "Their experience is in the service of the state".

Valerii Zaluzhnyi is in a similar situation – the President offered to keep him as "part of the team", but where and in what role is not known. It is also unknown what Zaluzhnyi said in response to his dismissal.

As UP wrote, Zaluzhnyi himself has informed his inner circle that if he resigns, he will make his health a priority – and perhaps take up teaching.

Tasks to be solved by Syrskyi

When introducing Syrskyi as Commander-in-Chief, Zelenskyy made it clear what changes he expects to see in the Defence Forces.

First and foremost, he wants a realistic, detailed action plan for the Armed Forces for 2024. It was the absence of this plan, allegedly at the suggestion of the President's Office and the urging of MP Mariana Bezuhla, that led to calls for Zaluzhnyi's resignation in November 2023.

Syrskyi is also expected to ensure a fair redistribution of Western-supplied weapons to frontline troops.

Separately, the president stressed the need to solve logistical problems. In a press conference last December, Zelenskyy mentioned that 26,000 drones were stuck in a warehouse and had not reached the frontlines. 

"Avdiivka should be stuck waiting while generals comb through warehouses to figure out where their drones are," he recalled recently, referencing the press conference.

As the president said, Syrskyi should also correct the situation of overstaffing and build an effective personnel rotation system. In his speech, Zelenskyy voiced an opinion that has been held in the presidential circle for some time: that whilst there are almost a million people in the Defence Forces, "most of them have not seen the frontline, while only a minority is out there actually fighting".

Syrskyi is tasked with improving the quality of training - only well-trained soldiers should fight on the front line, said Zelenskyy.

The new chief of the army notably has to solve the problems with mobilisation, although it is worth recalling that it is the Land Forces Command, which Syrskyi formerly headed, that calls the shots regarding territorial recruitment centres.

Syrskyi will also have to appoint the first commander of Ukraine’s new Unmanned Systems Forces. According to UP's sources in the government, one of the candidates for this position is the aforementioned Vadym Sukharevskyi. Currently the head of the 59th Brigade, his division includes the Magyar Birds, one of the most famous UAV companies.

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Oleksandr Syrskyi has been considered one of, if not the, most likely candidates since the possibility of changing the Commander-in-Chief was first discussed.

As early as 2022, there was active support for Syrskyi from the President's Office. "Some in the president's inner circle would like to replace him (Zaluzhnyi – ed.) with General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of the Ukrainian Land Forces, over whom General Zaluzhnyi was promoted last year," The Economist wrote in December 2022.

Syrskyi was supported in the media by Telegram channels controlled by the Office of the President. However, even with this support, Syrskyi's figure did not gain popularity among Ukrainians not involved in the Armed Forces. Among those involved, the colonel-general is widely regarded as a commander who is able to get the job done but often at the cost of high human losses.

In the context of the Russo-Ukrainian war, it is often said that a small Soviet army cannot defeat a large Soviet army. That is why the Ukrainian army needs to evolve, and find strength not in numbers, but through the use of advanced technology and skilful management.

One of the biggest risks to this paradigm shift is the leadership of one man who has a reputation in the army as one of the most "Soviet commanders".

The following people were involved in the preparation of this text: Olha Kyrylenko, Yevhen Buderatskyi, Mykhailo Kryhel, Rustem Khalilov, Roman Romaniuk

Translation: Myroslava Zavadska and Yelyzaveta Khodatska 

Editing: Ben McBride