Army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi was appointed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy chose to succeed Valeriy Zaluzhnyi. (Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg)
Ukraine’s new top general weighed in on his priorities a day after the biggest military shakeup in Kyiv since the war with Russia began, stressing the need to improve planning, embrace technological advances and master drone warfare.
Army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, whom President Volodymyr Zelenskyy chose to succeed Valeriy Zaluzhnyi after dismissing the popular chief commander, laid out the rough outline in a post on Telegram Friday. He’s expected to introduce his new team in the coming days.
“The introduction of new technical solutions and the scaling of successful experience,” including drones and radio-electronic technology, “is one of the future vectors of building victory in our war of liberation,” Syrskyi said in his first comments since the appointment.
Zelenskyy’s reshuffle comes at a delicate moment, after Ukraine’s military failed in a counteroffensive to press back Russia’s invasion force last year and now is running low on ammunition funds.
Commander of Ukraine’s ground forces in his previous role, Syrskyi is credited with helping defend Kyiv during the first phase of the invasion and the liberation of a swathe of the Kharkiv region later in 2022. Zelenskyy referred to him as Ukraine’s “most experienced” commander.
Written in bureaucratic prose, Syrskyi’s message lists the need for more precise and clear management at all levels of the military hierarchy as the most urgent priority — and emphasizes Ukraine’s need for modern weapons.
Syrskyi, who has a reputation as a military hardliner and a strict commander, said sparing the lives of servicemen will remain a central value. This, he said, can be achieved by seeking balance between executing combat tasks and letting troops recover and receive necessary training.
With assistance from Volodymyr Verbianyi.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
