Zelenskyy appointed a new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Oleksandr Petrov

Source: online.ua

President Volodymyr Zelenskyi dismissed General Valery Zaluzhny from the position of head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He appointed Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who led the AFU Ground Forces, as the new AFU chief.

What is known about the appointment of Syrskyi as the new AFU Commander-in-chief

It remains unknown who will take the position of Ground Forces Commander instead of Syrskyi.

Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi was born on July 26, 1965, in Novinky of the Vladimir Oblast, RSFSR. He was educated at the Academy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National University of Defense. He graduated from both educational institutions with honours.

Syrsky passed all stages of service in the army — from platoon commander to deputy chief of the AFU General Staff. In the early 2000s, Syrsky commanded the 72nd mechanized division in Bila Tserkva. In 2013, he was deputy chief of the Main Command Center of the Armed Forces, responsible for cooperation with NATO. At the beginning of the military conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014, Syrskyi headed the ATO headquarters.

In 2019, Syrskyi became the commander of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and since 2020, he has the rank of colonel general.

What is known about the release of Zaluzhnyi

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

According to him, the reason for the dismissal is the need to change the military cabinet and approaches and strategies in the criminal war launched by Russia against Ukraine.

Valery Zaluzhnyi was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine even before the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation. After February 24, 2022, he is one of the key military figures of the world. Zaluzhnyi's nacriticalbecame a symbol of resistance and courage, so he was called the "iron general" in the West.

Zaluzhnyi has experience serving in command positions in all operational commands of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces:

OC "East" — head of the combat training department — deputy commander of the troops for combat training (2015-2016);
OC "South" — deputy commander of troops (2016-2017);
OC "West" — chief of staff — first deputy commander (2017-2018);
OKC "North" — commander of troops (2019-2021).

In 2021, Valerii Zaluzhnyi was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He succeeded Colonel General Ruslan Khomchak.

On March 4, 2022, by presidential decree, he was awarded the rank of General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (highest military rank).