Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is changing the army leadership after the failed offensive in 2023. Valeriy Saluschnyj was replaced and the new commander-in-chief is Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyj. But who is this man?
Origin. Syrskyj was born in July 1965 in the Vladimir region of what is now Russia, which, like Ukraine, was then part of the Soviet Union. He has lived in Ukraine since the 1980s.
He studied at the Army School in Moscow, like many of his peers who are now commanders in the Russian army. Syrskyi graduated in 1986 and entered the Soviet artillery corps.
The “Snow Leopard”. In 2019, Syrskyj became commander of the Ukrainian Land Forces. He previously commanded Ukrainian forces fighting Russian-backed insurgents in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine. There he was given the battle name “Snow Leopard”.
Greatest successes. Syrskyj was responsible for some of the greatest successes against the Russian army in the current war. He organized the successful defense of the capital Kiev in the first months and was named ‘Hero of Ukraine’, the highest award for a soldier, in April 2022. In the summer of 2022, he launched the successful counter-offensive in the Kharkov region, during which Ukraine surprised the Russians and liberated large parts of the occupied territories.
Bachmut. In early 2023, Syrskyi took over the defense of the city of Bakhmut, killing thousands of soldiers on both sides. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the war up to that point. Some military analysts wondered whether defending such a heavily bombed city justified killing or wounding so many people. Syrskyj replied that the hard resistance had weakened the Russian fighting power and tied down the Wagner mercenary force for a long time.
Truppenmorale. Syrskyj has a reputation for being particularly concerned about the morale of his troops. He is often seen visiting the front. In interviews he said that he sleeps only 4.5 hours every night and relaxes by exercising. Syrskyj is married and has two sons.
Source: Krone
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