Zelenskyy replaces Ukraine military chief after protests - Al Jazeera

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing its staff and news agencies, reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Oleksandr Syrskii as commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces and named Mykhailo Drapatyi to replace him. The announcement was made in Kyiv after nearly a week of demonstrations triggered by the earlier removal of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who had been in conflict with Syrskii.

According to the report, Zelenskyy framed the change as an effort to “reset” Ukraine’s defence against Russia, while also pointing to tensions inside the military leadership and problems related to mobilisation and front-line management. Fedorov, described as an important figure in Ukraine’s war effort, had pushed for greater use of drones and technology and had accused Syrskii of obstructing those reforms. Zelenskyy also met Fedorov and offered him another senior government role linked to the technology sector, though it was not clear whether he accepted.

The leadership shake-up comes as public frustration over Ukraine’s war management and rising casualties has grown. Al Jazeera reported UN figures showing 1,396 civilians killed and 7,978 wounded in Ukraine during the first half of 2026, a sharp increase from the same period a year earlier. Russia’s Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow did not expect the Ukrainian command change to alter conditions on the front.

Drapatyi has held several senior battlefield roles, including in eastern and southern Ukraine, and was later appointed ground forces commander before resigning in 2025 after a deadly Russian strike on a training centre. The reshuffle matters because it places Ukraine’s military under new command during an intensified phase of Russia-Ukraine attacks and stalled diplomacy.