Ukraine must find innovative ways to fight, says new commander

Ukraine’s armed forces must adapt and find innovative ways to fight to achieve victory over Russian invaders, Kyiv’s new armed forces chief said on Friday, in his first public remarks since taking command.

Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, previously commander of ground forces, was promoted on Thursday to overall command of Ukraine’s 800,000-strong armed forces, the biggest shakeup of top brass since the war began, coming at a challenging time.

“Only changes and constant improvement of the means and methods of warfare will make it possible to achieve success on this path,” Syrskyi wrote in post on Telegram, singling out drones and electronic warfare as examples of new technology that would help Ukraine achieve victory.

The cautious, pragmatic tone was notably short of the soaring rhetoric used by Ukrainian politicians throughout the war.
Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said he had introduced Syrskyi to the General Staff, and promised “all possible support for the actions and decisions of the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.

“Defence is in good hands,” Umerov said on Facebook.

The change in commanders comes in a difficult period for Ukraine, which has failed to recapture significant territory since late 2022 and now faces a potential disruption in military aid supply from the United States, its biggest backer.

Russian forces are now on the offensive across the frontlines and making gradual inroads into the town of Avdiivka, which Moscow has been trying to capture for several months.

As ground commander, Syrskyi oversaw the successful defence of Ukraine’s capital at the outset of the Russian invasion and a lightning counter-offensive in the north-east, two of the biggest successes of the first year of the war.

However, some Ukrainian soldiers have criticized him for his subsequent leadership during Ukraine’s prolonged defence of the eastern town of Bakhmut, where thousands of troops perished on both sides before Kyiv’s forces withdrew in May 2023.

In his announcement yesterday, Zelenskiy said Syrskyi would present his new team with the aim of “resetting” the military.

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