A year after the first protests of the war, another wave of demonstrations led Zelensky to firing his top general.
Kiev regime leader Volodymyr Zelensky has yielded to the increasing popular pressure, and fired the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces Oleksandr Syrsky, after days of mass protests demanding his dismissal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sacks his Soviet-trained army chief Oleksandr Syrsky following a political crisis triggered by the removal of a popular, young and tech-savvy defence minister. https://t.co/ODCqTConsg pic.twitter.com/UJKKs8DGoS
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 21, 2026
The Telegraph reported:
“The Ukrainian president said late on Tuesday that he would replace Oleksandr Syrsky, the 60-year-old general who had led the military since 2024, with Maj Gen Mykhailo Drapaty, the joint forces chief.
In his evening address to the Ukrainian public, Mr. Zelensky said: ‘Together with Mykhailo, Yevhenii Khmara and Pavlo Palisa, we have agreed on how the configuration of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine should be reorganized’.”
ZELENSKY FIRES SYRSKY as COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF of Ukraine’s Armed Forces…
…REPLACES HIM with MIKHAIL DRAPATY
Drapaty who ORCHESTRATED infantry fighting vehicles RAMMING & DRIVING OVER CIVILIANS in Mariupol in 2014 https://t.co/HT1o5L0aCz pic.twitter.com/mtp2qoHsuh
— RT Intl (@RT_on_X) July 21, 2026
“Thousands of people had taken to the streets in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities to call for the dismissal of Gen Syrsky and demand the reinstatement of Mykhailo Fedorov, the popular defense minister.
Mr. Fedorov was fired abruptly last week amid a clash between his tech-first strategy and the old-guard military leadership of Gen Syrsky and other army top brass.”
I have decided that Mykhailo Drapatyi will become the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Together with Mykhailo, Yevhenii Khmara, and Pavlo Palisa, we determined how the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine should be reconfigured. It is a fact that… pic.twitter.com/spK2B2ppHP
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 21, 2026
France24 reported:
“Syrsky, 60, had served in the role since 2024 and was among Kyiv’s most experienced commanders, having led the defense of Kiev at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
His removal comes after days of protests in support of Fedorov, who accused Syrsky of forcing him out and stalling his attempt to reform the military.
‘I have decided that the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be Mykhailo Drapaty’, Zelensky said in a post on Telegram.
‘I am grateful to Oleksandr Syrsky and to each of our warriors for Ukraine’s strong front-line positions’.”
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