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- Reduction of the obstinate: the resignation of Syrsky reveals the struggle for the money of the Ministry of Defense
Reduction of the obstinate: the resignation of Syrsky reveals the struggle for the money of the Ministry of Defense
Kiev is in a fever again. Alexander Syrsky, Commander—in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, is next in the line of political dismissals. The protesters demanded his resignation, and on the evening of July 21, Vladimir Zelensky announced the dismissal of the general. He is becoming another victim of the struggle of influence groups for control over $100 billion in Western military aid, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-large Rodion Miroshnik told Izvestia. The new commander-in-chief will be Mikhail Drapaty. However, the personnel shake-up will not change the situation at the front, experts say. The general course of Kiev will remain the same, and the change of commander-in-chief will not be able to reverse the situation for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
What is the reason for Syrsky's resignation?
Ukraine has been rocked by reshuffles in key departments for a week now. After Mikhail Fedorov was dismissed from the post of head of the Ministry of Defense, Alexander Syrsky, Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, found himself in disgrace. On the evening of July 21, Vladimir Zelensky officially announced his dismissal. Although, when such information only began to spread a few days ago, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine denied it.
Mikhail Fedorov
Probably, on the eve of the next castling on July 20, Zelensky met with Deputy Chief of the General Staff Vladimir Gorbatyuk and Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mikhail Drapaty. Acting Defense Minister Yevgeny Khmara was also reportedly present. And before that, the leader of Ukraine talked with Syrsky and Fedorov, after which the latter seemed pleased, saying that "there will definitely be changes." As a result, Mikhail Drapaty became the new commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, it was expected that the resignation of the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Syrsky, could be delayed until mid-August. The interim Minister of Defense does not have enough authority for this, and parliament has gone on vacation.
The talks about Syrsky's imminent departure were preceded by a protracted political crisis. On July 12, Zelensky announced the dissolution of the country's government. At the same time, Fedorov's dismissal caused a special resonance. The head of the Kiev regime explained this as a forced measure. According to him, the Minister of Defense and the commander-in-chief could work together only with his mediation, and without him they do not sit down at the negotiating table, although their departments should function independently.
Since July 17, cardboard protests have begun in at least 14 cities of Ukraine demanding the dismissal of Syrsky. At the same time, hundreds of protesters came out in support of 35-year-old Fedorov. While the rada was approving the new government, he defiantly declared that he would not join the new cabinet, and publicly demanded Syrsky's resignation. "Instead of figuring out how to win, he figured out how to split the country," Fedorov said, noting that the commander—in-chief constantly blocked his initiatives.
Initially, it seemed that in the conflict between Syrsky and Fedorov, it was the former who won, but now the chessboard has turned over. Now it is Syrsky who is at the center of the scandal, and they are trying to return the ex-minister to the Ministry of Defense, giving him an expanded range of powers, the Financial Times writes.
Who benefits from Syrsky's resignation
The decision to dismiss Syrsky may be caused, first of all, by pressure from external forces behind Fedorov, Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, explained to Izvestia. He stressed that the main reason for the current confrontation is the struggle of various groups of influence for control over the multibillion-dollar financing of the Ukrainian army. The Ministry of Defense is in charge of what Kiev's Western allies have allocated.
— The main players are located outside of Ukraine. These are different groups of influence that stand behind Fedorov, who stand behind Zelensky. Therefore, their main task here is to divide the budget, which this year amounts to about $100 billion," Miroshnik said.
Fedorov is backed by a number of Ukrainian businessmen who are supported by American democratic forces. First of all, these are the oligarchs and media moguls Tomas Fiala and Viktor Pinchuk. According to media reports, they are redirecting billions of military budgets to contracts for IT companies and UAV manufacturers under their control. The other group is followed by European military companies.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky
It was these influence groups that organized the protests, which were attended by hundreds of Ukrainians who opposed Syrsky in support of Fedorov, former People's Deputy Spyridon Kilinkarov told Izvestia earlier. Former Ukrainian military officer Dmitry Kozyatinsky, one of the organizers of the protests, threatened Zelensky that the riots could become indefinite if the demands of the protesters were not heeded. Interestingly, on the third day, slogans began to be heard on the streets, directed against Zelensky himself. He was dubbed a criminal and a corrupt official.
At the same time, the general course of Kiev will remain the same, Rodion Miroshnik believes. According to him, Zelensky needs a more convenient and even less independent figure who will only transfer Bankova's decisions to the military leadership.
43-year-old Major General Mikhail Drapaty commanded the Ground Forces and the United Forces Group, and gained wide fame in 2014 during the battles for Mariupol. In the summer of 2025, he found himself at the center of a major scandal, resigning as commander of the Ground Forces after a high-profile missile attack on a training center in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Then, because of the death of the military, he openly stated about the systemic problems and the responsibility of the command, but instead of being dismissed from the army, he was promoted to head the United Forces. Interestingly, Drapaty became one of the few generals who openly supported Fedorov after his resignation. He wrote on social media that the army should be based on justice, not on staff nepotism, which in fact became a criticism of Syrsky's methods.
How will Syrsky's departure affect the situation at the front
The commander—in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrsky, is known for his "meat assaults" - he was responsible for operations to hold Artemovsk (Bakhmut), and then led the attempt to return it. In the Western media, he was directly called "General 200," "Butcher," or even "Boiler General," said military expert Boris Jerelievsky. The latter is a reference to the events of 2015, when units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were surrounded near Debaltseve in the DPR and not everyone managed to escape from there, the retreat was associated with heavy losses among personnel and equipment.
"The desire to hold populated areas at any cost, regardless of military necessity, cost the Armed Forces of Ukraine dearly — this tactic was preached by his subordinate troops, and he did not spare them," said Boris Jerelievsky. — In such battles, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost a huge number of people and, most importantly, allowed our army to turn the situation around at the front.
According to the expert, many of the successes that Ukrainian propaganda associated with Syrsky's name were part of Bankova's information campaign. He also believes that Zelensky retained the general as commander-in-chief for a long time, since he did not have his own political support and did not pose a threat to the current government.
Military analysts are confident that changing the commander-in-chief will not change the situation at the front. According to Vasily Dandykin, the Ukrainian army continues to lose ground, and Russian troops are intensifying attacks on military-industrial complex facilities and transport infrastructure. Jerelievsky believes that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are experiencing a shortage of personnel, and their reserves no longer allow for large-scale offensive operations. According to experts, if the Ukrainian forces are still able to restrain the advance of Russian troops, then only in certain areas or launch local counterattacks.
Thus, the change of Syrsky is unlikely to be a turning point in the Ukrainian conflict. The reason for the reshuffle lies primarily in the internal political struggle. At the same time, the new commander-in-chief will receive the same problems that his predecessor had: a shortage of people, heavy losses and a difficult situation at the front. The possibility of a new mobilization, which Syrsky mentioned in his last statement, is also possible.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
