{"id":777678,"date":"2026-07-22T10:45:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T10:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/777678\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T10:45:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T10:45:17","slug":"ukraine-overhauls-its-military-top-brass-for-the-fight-against-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/777678\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine overhauls its military top brass for the fight against Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine pushed on with its fight against Russia\u2019s invasion<\/a> under new military leadership Wednesday, after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy bowed to public pressure and fired his commander-in-chief<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ukraine has made significant progress<\/a> in the war this year, and a rift<\/a> between the country\u2019s outgoing army chief and its defense minister threatened to derail its efforts. Both men lost their jobs following Zelenskyy\u2019s major government reshuffle<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n

The new army chief, 43-year-old Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi<\/a>, belongs to a new generation of Ukrainian generals who have come up through the ranks during the battle against Russian aggression. He became known for his daring and courage in 2014, the year that Russia seized and illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula \u2014 eight years before Moscow’s all-out invasion.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said Drapatyi and other commanders must present an updated defense strategy, including continued reform of the corps system, faster weapon and drone deliveries, stronger air defense against Russian strikes, and a clearer mobilization plan.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy met separately Tuesday with outgoing defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov, a 35-year-old tech-savvy entrepreneur credited with swiftly developing Ukraine\u2019s drone technology<\/a> that has given it a battlefield edge.<\/p>\n

He locked horns with outgoing commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, a 60-year-old veteran trained in the Soviet Union before Ukraine\u2019s independence.<\/p>\n

Street protests in Kyiv and other cities demanded Fedorov\u2019s return, viewing him as a key military modernizer, and urged Zelenskyy to fire Syrskyi, regarded as part of the old guard.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy offered Fedorov what he called a respected position in the government that would unify the country\u2019s technology sector. It wasn\u2019t clear if Fedorov accepted the offer — or whether the latest moves would satisfy protesters and calm the streets.<\/p>\n

Fedorov supported Drapatyi’s appointment, calling it calling \u201cnew hope in the fight of free people for freedom and justice\u201d and \u201ca voice for change that could not go unheard.\u201d <\/p>\n

Fedorov had criticized Syrskyi publicly before his dismissal, saying the general was blocking his reform efforts and needed to be replaced for Ukraine not to fail in its resistance against Russia.<\/p>\n

Fedorov called Syrskyi to thank him for his military triumphs, including defending the Kyiv region at the time of Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion, the Kharkiv counteroffensive operation later that year and other battles, calling it \u201calready an important part of Ukraine\u2019s history.\u201d But he added that the country must \u201cmove even faster and write new chapters, correcting all previous mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The political crisis began last Thursday, when Zelenskyy overhauled his wartime government, replacing his prime minister and firing Fedorov after just six months in the post. <\/p>\n

The reshuffle immediately drew thousands of protesters into the streets of Kyiv and other cities, framing Fedorov\u2019s removal as Zelenskyy siding with an entrenched military old guard over a reformer.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow the AP\u2019s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/russia-ukraine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine pushed on with its fight against Russia\u2019s invasion under new military leadership Wednesday, after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":777679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,793,451,1576,3,963,452,453,964,965],"class_list":["post-777678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-general-news","tag-headlines","tag-military-and-defense","tag-news","tag-russia-ukraine-war","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-war-and-unrest","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}