New commander signals tougher approach but problems remain
KYIV, UKRAINE>> Ukraine’s new military chief signaled Friday that he plans to take a tougher approach, saying his immediate goals are to improve the troop rotation at the front lines and harness the power of new technology, at a time when Kyiv’s forces are largely on the defensive in the war with Russia.
Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, who previously was the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, spoke a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy put him in charge of the battlefield campaign with the war poised to enter its third year. He replaced the broadly popular Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
“New tasks are on the agenda,” Syrskyi said on his Telegram channel.
Though he provided little detail, his remarks appeared to align with Zelenskyy’s stated aim of bringing “renewal” to the armed forces with Thursday’s shake-up and adopting a fresh approach to the fight.
But the changes at the top won’t solve some of Ukraine’s biggest problems: a shortage of manpower that has helped sap morale and may require a mass mobilization, and the inadequate supply of Western weapons to take on Russia’s might.
Kyiv officials are “rethinking” their war strategy “with a new emphasis on improved technology and updated command and control,” said James Nixey, an analyst at London’s Chatham House think tank.
One sign of that may be the claimed recent sinking of a Russian warship in the Black Sea by a new generation of Ukrainian naval drones.
“It’s not going to be easy” for Syrskyi, said Marina Miron, a researcher at the War Studies Department of King’s College London. “There are a lot of problems” for Ukraine moment.
She cited a lack of ammunition, uncertainty about new weapons from Ukraine’s Western allies, a manpower shortage, at the people’s reluctance to be drafted, the tiredness of troops getting no respite from the front lines, and the question of how Zaluzhnyi’s departure might affect morale.
Whereas Zaluzhnyi was a proponent at this stage of the war of active defense — securing defensive lines while also searching for Russia’s weak points and hitting rear areas with longrange strikes — Syrskyi “will try to push the Ukrainian forces . ... He will try to increase counterattacks possibly,” Miron said in a telephone interview.
That would align with
Zelenskyy’s desire to take a more aggressive approach.
The Associated Press spoke to soldiers and commanders on the front lines, who expressed varied views about the changes at the top. Some said they would reserve judgment on Syrskyi until they witness changes on the ground, while others said he was a competent and capable general.
The shake-up caused some apprehension on the streets of the capital, Kyiv.
Alisa Riazantseva, a 35-year-old marketing specialist, said she had been “generally satisfied” with Zaluzhnyi. “We hope that our government has not made a big mistake” by replacing him, she said.
Later Friday, dozens gathered in Kyiv’s Independence Square to protest Zaluzhnyi’s removal. They chanted slogans in support of the former army chief and called for the ousters of Syrskyi and Zelenskyy. A soldier tried to reason with the protesters, telling them the government has a plan, but they were having none of it.
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