General Oleksandr Syrskyi is quickly finding his feet as the new commander of the Ukrainian armed forces. His predecessor, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, was extremely popular, earning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky some criticism for his decision to change military commanders – but the backlash was far more measured than Kyiv might have expected. Ukraine, amid a difficult moment for its soldiers, is most concerned with preserving its unity.

The three men made a point of appearing together on Friday, February 9, the day after the president's decision. Zelensky awarded General Zaluzhnyi the title of "Hero of Ukraine," the country's highest honor, for his "outstanding personal merits in protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of the country. Zaluzhnyi defined the strategy that inflicted Moscow's major defeats during Russia's invasion in 2022. Syrskyi had already received the same award for orchestrating the defense of Kyiv.

The president and the deposed commander embraced warmly, and the two generals, Zaluzhnyi and Syrskyi, appeared together as friendly comrades. The title of "Hero of Ukraine" was also awarded by Zelensky to the head of military intelligence, General Kyrylo Budanov, the country's second most popular military figure after Zaluzhnyi, who had once been tipped to take command of the army. The smiling, appeasing line-up was complete.

Syrskyi, who has won crucial military victories but is controversial within the army for his tactic of holding the front line at all costs, even with a high number of casualties, as during the battle of Bakhmut, began talking about the future. He was not specific, but, as an obsessive planner, he made it a priority to "plan in a clear and detailed way the actions" of the armed forces, until Ukraine's "victory."

Syrskyi wants to develop new technologies. "Only changes and continuous improvement in the means and methods of warfare will enable us to succeed," he wrote on Telegram in his first statement as commander of the armed forces, following in the footsteps of Zaluzhnyi, who in 2023 called for "a technological leap" to break the "deadlock." This priority is in line with the creation, announced this week by Zelensky, of a specific department dedicated to drones within the armed forces. The new department is to develop drones as the military begins running out of traditional ammunition.

Aware of the criticism leveled at him, Syrskyi has insisted on the "life and health" of soldiers, who are "the primary value of the Ukrainian army," and therefore on the "balance between combat missions and the intensification of education and the training" of servicemen. At an initial meeting with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, he said that "the priority is an efficient rotation system," designed to relieve men who, for some, are exhausted after two years of combat. On Friday, Syrskyi made his first appointment. He chose General Anatoliy Barhylevych to replace General Serhiy Shaptala as chief of the General Staff.

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