Vladimir Zelensky succumbed to pressure from the streets. On the evening of Tuesday, July 21, the Ukrainian president finally came to terms with the dismissal of his army commander, General Alexander Syrsky, who had come under fire during the demonstrations that have rocked Ukraine in recent days.
“I am grateful to Alexander Syrsky and each of our soldiers for the strong positions that Ukraine occupies at the front,” the head of state wrote on his social networks, paying tribute to the memory of the deceased commander. “It cannot be denied that Alexander Sirsky achieved results for Ukraine during the defense of Kyiv, the Kharkov offensive operation and the Kursk operation. We have come a long way, the defense of Ukraine continues, and every soldier must be treated with dignity,” he added.
Vladimir Zelensky was forced to make this change at the head of the army at a decisive moment for Ukraine. The country, at war since 2022, is trying to change the balance of power with Russia by sending hundreds, even thousands of drones into Russian territory. With one hope: to force Moscow to bend and force Putin to negotiate.
Commander of the Butcher
It all started on July 12, when Vladimir Zelensky decided to make personnel changes in his government. Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko was thanked. But the most critical criticism is the dismissal of the very popular Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov, 35. Modern, technology-oriented, Fedorov disagreed over the country’s military strategy with the commander-in-chief, 60-year-old Alexander Syrsky, a veteran of the Ukrainian army. The latter, trained during Soviet times, had a more traditional vision of military power. A collision was inevitable.
It has been my great honor to serve the Ukrainian people as Minister of Defense.
Here’s what our team managed to achieve:
1. Access to Starlink has been disabled for Russian forces.
2. Took over the Ministry of Defense with a zero budget, took a risk, redistributed funds from the wage fund from… pic.twitter.com/18B5QQaeqL
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) July 15, 2026
Zelensky preferred experience over modernity. However, the population, tired of the war unleashed by Vladimir Putin almost four and a half years ago, appreciated the freshness of the new defense minister, appointed to this post in January after a long tenure at the helm of the Ministry of Digital Transformation. The Fedorov Doctrine, which focused on using drones and robots to push back the Russian enemy, had the advantage of limiting human losses. The Ukrainian people can no longer count their dead (according to the latest estimates from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, from February 2022 to June 2026, between 125,000 and 150,000 Ukrainian soldiers died).
In contrast, General Alexander Syrsky, appointed commander-in-chief of the armies in 2024, has earned a reputation as a man of implacable composure, not inclined to worry about human losses. While he is applauded for defending the capital Kyiv at the start of the conflict and the city of Kharkov in September 2022, he also inherited the nickname “the butcher” after the bloody Battle of Bakhmut in 2023.
For social peace during the war
“If I offended anyone, I apologize,” he said contritely in a rare speech on the Military website on Monday, the day before he was fired. He denies any conflict with the former defense minister, preferring to focus on their common goal: “victory.” “Ukraine is bigger than Fedorov, Syrsky and any of us,” he said. “Ukraine will survive not because of irreplaceable individuals, but because of its army, its institutions and millions of dedicated citizens. Reducing this war to a confrontation between two people is the greatest service we can render to the enemy.”
Nevertheless, Vladimir Zelensky made a choice in favor of social peace in a country that still cannot organize elections because security conditions are not met. Therefore, before the demonstrators presented an ultimatum on July 24 and after several days of consultations with army leaders, he decided to thank Syrsky, who was replaced as commander-in-chief by Mikhail Drapatiy. The latter, a 43-year-old officer, is considered a good compromise between Fedorov’s modernity and Syrsky’s severity.
We have determined the sequence of further actions. Today, decisions on changes in the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be formalized – the corresponding decrees are in the preparation stage. Together with Mikhail Drapaty and Evgeniy Khmara, we established that Major General… pic.twitter.com/3Z5YZgSBAu
– Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Vladimir Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) 22 July 2026
“We all want the same thing: to defeat the enemy and create conditions that would allow us to force Russia to peace,” Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday night before formalizing the new appointments on Wednesday. The highly popular Mikhail Fedorov is set to inherit an “important” role in overseeing the Ukrainian technology sector. Enough to ease tensions, the president hopes.
In Moscow, this game of musical chairs within the Ukrainian government and army is hardly impressive. “I don’t think this can lead to any changes,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized on Wednesday, as quoted by AFP. “Our armed forces continue their offensive along the entire front line,” he assured. Russian authorities have, however, taken note of the change in the head of the Ukrainian army command: new leader Mikhail Drapaty has been under an arrest warrant issued by Russia since Wednesday, state media RIA Novosti reported.
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