Mykhailo Fedorov stated that he had proposed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he replace Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and Andrii Hnativ, the Chief of the General Staff. In his view, these personnel changes were necessary to shift to a different strategy of warfare and deliver asymmetric strikes against russia with fewer casualties.
Fedorov made this statement during a media briefing broadcast by “Suspilne.”
Why Fedorov proposed replacing Syrskyi?
According to Fedorov, he advocated for appointing the Chief of the General Staff to the position of the Commander-in-Chief, as he believed it was necessary to change the approach to managing the war.
He noted that after the President refused to dismiss Syrskyi, he accepted this decision and did not issue any ultimatums.
At the same time, the former minister emphasized that he recognizes Syrskyi’s contributions in 2022. According to him, the Commander-in-Chief played an important role in the defense of Kyiv and the Kharkiv counteroffensive.
However, according to Fedorov, serious disagreements later arose between them.
“All the initiatives we proposed began to be blocked. Syrskyi is not willing to speak openly about the problems. Instead of thinking about how to defeat Russia asymmetrically, he, in my opinion, began to divide the country,” Fedorov said.
What else Fedorov discussed?
The former minister believes that Ukraine has long operated primarily at the tactical level, while the Russian army planned operations at the operational level.
According to him, the Ukrainian military has recently begun shifting to operations at the operational level through the use of so-called “middle-strike” tactics.
“If we want to defeat the enemy asymmetrically, with minimal losses, we need to replace the commander-in-chief and the chief of the General Staff,” former Defense Minister Fedorov said at a briefing.
After his dismissal as defense minister, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered Fedorov the position of his advisor. However, Fedorov declined.
As a reminder, protests broke out in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities following the announcement of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov’s resignation. People are demanding that the decision to dismiss him be reconsidered and are calling for the reform course at the Ministry of Defense to be maintained.
Mykyta Poturaiev, a member of the Verkhovna Rada from the Servant of the People faction and the chairman of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, announced that he is resigning his parliamentary seat, hinting that his decision is linked to the personnel policies of the Office of the President.
On July 14, the Verkhovna Rada accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko. According to the Constitution, the resignation of the prime minister results in the resignation of the entire Cabinet of Ministers.
Under the Constitution of Ukraine, the President submits the nominee for Minister of Defense to Parliament for approval. On July 15, it became known that Zelenskyy had decided not to nominate Fedorov for reappointment as Minister of Defense. On July 15, Fedorov announced his resignation from the post of Minister of Defense.
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