Ukraine’s president replaces top general to shake up deadlocked war with Russia

Ukraine’s president replaces top general to shake up deadlocked war with Russia

Ukraine’s president has replaced his top general in a shake-up aimed at reigniting momentum in the deadlocked war with Russia, which is grinding into its third year as the country grapples with shortages of ammunition and personnel and struggles to maintain support from the West.

After days of speculation that change was coming, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media on Thursday that he was thankful for the service of the outgoing General Valerii Zaluzhnyi — a military leader popular with troops and the general public.

“The time for … a renewal is now,” Zelenskyy said on X.

Zelenskyy appointed the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Colonel General 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 has been instrumental in Ukraine’s biggest successes during the war, including overseeing the defense of the capital in the early days of the invasion.

His ascension marks the most significant overhaul of Ukraine’s military leadership since Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. Zaluzhnyi said in a Telegram message that he agreed there is a “need to change approaches and strategy.”

An adviser to Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on X that Ukraine needs to “prevent stagnation on the front line, which negatively affects public sentiment, to find new functional and high-tech solutions that will allow (Ukraine) to retain and develop the initiative.”

Syrskyi, 58, was bestowed with the country’s highest honour for his role in repelling Moscow’s advance on the capital. He has also been credited with orchestrating the successful counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region.

Ukraine’s struggles with ammunition and personnel come on the heels of a failed counteroffensive last northern summer and as European allies try to bump up their military production. At the same time, a political standoff in the United States is holding up further aid from Ukraine’s main supplier.

Retired Australian Major-General Mick Ryan, a fellow of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, described Zaluzhnyi as “a charismatic and popular military leader” who would be hard to replace.

The perception of government instability “is a real danger area for” Zelenskyy, Ryan wrote recently in an article posted online.

The Kremlin has lately been focused on taking the eastern Ukraine city of Avdiivka, throwing more troops into the four-month battle and bombarding Ukrainian defences there.

There has been little change in positions along the 1500-kilometre front line over the northern winter, though Russia has kept up its attacks.

Faced with an anticipated shortfall of Western weaponry, Ukraine has been digging defences, while Moscow has put its economy on a war footing to give its military more muscle.