This is Oleksandr Sirski, an effective soldier who will take command of the Ukrainian Army and who lacks the charisma of the dismissed Zaluzhni
Finally, as expected for days, Volodymyr Zelensky made official the dismissal of the head of the Armed Forces, Valeri Zaluzhni.. The Ukrainian president denies that the changing of the guard has a personal or political nuance. He justifies this by the need for the leadership of the Ukrainian Army to develop “a new vision for war” more in line with that of the soldiers fighting on the front.
The head of state has entrusted this task to the former head of the Ukrainian Land Forces, Colonel General Oleksandr Sirski, whom he highlighted as “the most experienced Ukrainian commander.”
The “hero of Ukraine”
Sirski, 58, was born in Soviet Russia in 1965, like most high-ranking officers of his generation.. He studied at a Red Army academy in Moscow and in the 1980s was sent to Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.
When the USSR collapsed, he remained in Ukraine, studying at the National Defense University in kyiv and joining the ranks of the newly independent Ukrainian army.. In the 2000s he was head of a mechanized brigade. He was promoted to general in 2009 and. Later, as part of the Ukrainian military command, he participated in the development of cooperation with NATO.
Thus, he led some reforms in the Ukrainian armed forces aimed at bringing the country closer to the requirements required to become part of the Atlantic Alliance.. In addition, it played a very important role during the Crimean conflict in 2014, with a notoriety very similar to what it has now.
- Valeri Zaluzhni is an immensely respected general in Ukraine. After two years of Russian invasion, he has accepted his relief in a conciliatory tone. He leaves after a series of public disagreements with Zelensky, which began last November when the general published an article in which he warned that the war had entered a phase that could be favorable to Russia.. According to the newspaper 'Ukrainska Pravda', both the Government and the Ukrainian secret service fear the possible negative reactions that the dismissal of Zaluzhni could arouse among citizens, which, according to the most recent survey on the matter, is supported by 88% of voters. ukrainians. Perhaps that is why Zelensky has said that he continues to count on Zaluzhni for the future.. Ukrainian analysts have attributed the distance between the two to the distrust that the great popularity of the general, whom some suppose has political ambitions, would cause in the president.
The “hero of Ukraine”
He led the defense of kyiv in the early days of the Russian invasion, when Kremlin forces unsuccessfully attempted to take the Ukrainian capital.. Months later, in autumn 2022, Sirski was primarily responsible for the counteroffensive in the Russian-occupied territories in the eastern Kharkiv region, which were successfully liberated.. The campaign allowed Ukraine to regain “about 6,000 kilometers” of frontage in just a few weeks.
He also led the defense of Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine that was taken by Russia in May 2021 after ten months of bloody siege.. For all this, Sirski was decorated as a “hero of Ukraine.”
An effective soldier with little charisma
Despite those successes, he is not a national icon like Zaluzhny, admired by Ukrainians across the country and adored by his troops.. Well, Sirski no tiene ese charisma. According to a December 2023 survey, about 48% of Ukrainians said they had not heard of Sirski.
“He has developed a reputation as a man who values getting things done more than the number of lives he sacrifices to achieve them.”
Ukrainska Pravda published a column this week suggesting that Sirski is not particularly sensitive to losses. “He has developed a reputation as a man who values getting things done more than the number of lives he sacrifices to achieve them,” the article says.. However, he is “one of the few high-ranking commanders who regularly visits the front,” army spokesman Illia Yevlash told AFP.
What Zelensky expects from Sirski
Now, Sirsky will have to address his new responsibilities with a new group of soldiers that will replace Zaluzhni's team, which Zelensky has decided to replace to turn the war around.. According to the president, “it is about the system of our Army, about management in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and about adding the combat experience of commanders in this war.”
Zelensky has explained that he expects from the new head of the Army “a realistic and detailed action plan” for 2024 that must be ready “in the shortest possible time” and give more prominence to technology in military operations. The president also hopes for improvements in soldier training and logistics, “an effective rotation system” for soldiers on the front lines and a reduction in the number of non-essential personnel in some Army departments.