Russia Calls Ukraine’s New Russian-born Military Chief A ‘Traitor’

• Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi also trained at Moscow’s Higher Military Command School, served five years in Soviet Artillery Corps
• Kyiv Mayor calls for ‘explanation’ on military Commander’s dismissal

Ukraine’s new Russian-born Military chief is a “traitor,” senior Russian security official, Dmitry Medvedev, said on Friday. 

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had sacked General Valeriy Zaluzhny and appointed Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi as the new Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

There has been tensions between Zaluzhny and Zelensky which seems to have fizzled for weeks before the dismissal announcement.

Born in Russia’s Vladimir region, which was then part of the Soviet Union, the new chief studied in Moscow – at the Higher Military Command School – among peers who have since become Russian commanders.

He served for five years in the Soviet Artillery Corps and has lived in Ukraine since the 1980s.

Responding to his new role, Mr Medvedev, Russia’s ex-President accused Mr Syrskyi, who did not serve in post-Soviet Russia’s army, of breaking his oath as an officer. 

“Looking at the biography of the new Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian armed forces Syrskyi, one feels a sense of hatred, contempt and disgust,” Mr Medvedev wrote on Telegram.

“Disgust for a man who was a Soviet Russian officer, but became a Bandera traitor, who broke his oath and serves the Nazis, destroying his loved ones. May the earth burn under his feet.”

“Bandera” is a reference to Stepan Bandera, a Second World War-era Ukrainian nationalist who collaborated with Nazi Germany to fight against the Red Army. 

He is regarded as a freedom fighter by some Ukrainians but as a traitor by many Russians.

Meanwhile, Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv and a prominent figure during the war in Ukraine, has called for the authorities to provide the public with “explanations for such changes.”

“I am grateful to General Valery Zaluzhny for his service to Ukraine and dedication to protecting our nation. Thanks to him, Ukrainians have placed genuine trust in our Armed Forces, which currently enjoy the highest level of public confidence,” he said. 

He said he was “confident” the popular army commander would “navigate through this challenge with grace”.

“I trust that the authorities will provide the public with explanations for such changes,” he said. 

“Especially during ongoing heavy fighting on the front lines and the need to maintain effective cooperation with foreign partners, the unity of our society relies on authorities it can trust.”

Strains had appeared between Zaluzhnyi and Zelensky — arguably the two most prominent figures in Ukraine’s fight — after the much-anticipated counteroffensive failed to meet its goal of penetrating Russia’s deep defenses. Kyiv’s Western allies had poured billions of dollars worth of military hardware into Ukraine to help it succeed.

Months later, amid signs of war fatigue in the West, Zaluzhnyi described the conflict as being at a “stalemate,” just when Zelensky was arguing in foreign capitals that Ukraine’s new weaponry had been vital.

Zelensky said at the end of last year that he had turned down the military’s request to mobilize up to 500,000 people, demanding more details about how it would be paid for.

After days of speculation that change was coming, Ukrainian President Zelensky said on social media that he was thankful for the service of the outgoing Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi — a military leader popular with troops and the general public. “The time for… a renewal is now,” Zelensky said on X.

Zelensky appointed the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, to lead the army, which needs a morale boost at a time when the conflict with Russia has been at a near stalemate for months. Syrskyi, 58, has been instrumental in some of Ukraine’s biggest successes over the past two years, including overseeing the defense of the capital in the early days of the invasion.