Politics
🔴 Zelensky fires Ukraine army chief Oleksandr Syrsky
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday dismissed Ukraine's military leader Oleksandr Syrskyi following public pressure and named Major General Mykhailo Drapaty as new commander-in-chief.
- Issued on: 21/07/2026 - 21:59 Modified: 21/07/2026 - 22:06 By: FRANCE 24 Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky in Kharkiv.
- © Handout via Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that he was dismissing Oleksandr Syrsky, commander-in-chief of Ukraine 's army, and appointing joint forces commander Mykhailo Drapaty in his place.
- I have decided that the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be Mykhailo Drapaty.
- I am grateful to Oleksandr Syrsky and to each of our warriors for Ukraine's strong front-line positions, Zelensky said in a post on Telegram.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Major General Mykhailo Drapaty will take over as Ukraine's commander-in-chief after firing Soviet-trained top commander Oleksandr Syrsky. "This is a victory for the protestors who took to the streets a week ago, when Zelensky fired Fedorov, says FRANCE 24 correspondent Gulliver Cragg. "Their main demand was that Syrsky be fired.
He added that "Drapaty was the one Fedorov wanted to see in that position to replace Syrsky". To display this content from YouTube, you must enable tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.
Source: France 24 EN, France 24 EN