Ukraine has recaptured 700 square km of its territory this year, outgoing Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Wednesday.
“I am handing over to my successor an army that is not only holding the defence but is also on the offensive,” Syrskyi said in a statement on Telegram, confirming he was leaving the top military job.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that a young major general, Mykhailo Drapatyi, 43, would replace Syrskyi, 60, after days of street protests, marking the biggest shake-up in the country’s military leadership since its war with Russia began.
Drapatyi is a respected and experienced commander who led the country’s land forces from 2024 to 2025 and is described as a general of a new generation.
Last week, Zelenskyy’s government reshuffle and dismissal of tech-savvy reformist Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, 35, after just half a year in office, stirred concerns among analysts that Ukraine’s recent battlefield momentum could be lost.
Ukraine has been trying to gain the upper hand in the war by heavily striking Russia’s energy sector, its main source of budget revenue and logistics.
“The operations of the Ukrainian Defence Forces are ongoing and must continue steadily. Ukraine’s plan for long-range sanctions and our program of middle-range strikes will be carried out with absolute precision,” Zelenskyy said as he introduced Drapatyi.
The surprise government reshuffle last week led to a political crisis that exposed weaknesses in Ukraine’s domestic governance due to the lack of elections during the war.
