Image: keystone
analysis
The new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army knows how modern war works.
July 23, 2026, 1:19 p.mJuly 23, 2026, 1:19 p.m
At first it was a shock. In a power struggle between the young Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and the Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, Volodymyr Zelensky seemed to be siding with the old guard. Fedorov had to resign after just six months in office, and this after the tide of battle had turned in Ukraine’s favor in recent weeks, and that in turn was a result of the drone miracle in which Fedorov played a key role.
Old fears were immediately awakened: the old apparatchiks of the Soviet era and corruption are back, Ukraine is giving up what it has fought so heroically for and, to the delight of Vladimir Putin, is sinking into an internal power struggle and even chaos. Across the country, people, especially young people, took to the streets to protest the dismissal of the popular defense minister.
Will you soon be back in an important role? Fired Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.Image: keystone
The joy in the Kremlin may have been short-lived. There are signs of a happy ending in Kyiv. Zelensky has now fired Syrskyi and replaced him with the young Mykhailo Drapatyi. This is more than a generational shift – Drapatyi is 43, Syrskyi is 60 – it is a paradigm shift in the mindset of the people who sit at the controls of military power.
Just by the way: It is also impressive evidence of how different the political situation is in Ukraine and Russia. None of the demonstrators against the president’s decision were beaten or even had to fear ending up in prison. In neo-Stalinist Russia he or she would long ago be on their way to a prison camp in Siberia.
Syrskyi is a man of the old Soviet school. He accepts high losses of soldiers, for example in the ultimately unsuccessful defense of the city of Bakhmut, which was taken by the mercenaries of Wagner’s troops after long and bloody battles. That’s why he earned the unflattering nickname “Butcher of Bakhmut”.
Drapatyi is carved from a completely different cloth. He has a reputation for being courageous and compassionate at the same time, and he doesn’t believe in the rigid hierarchies that were common in the Soviet-style armies. “The power of command is gradually changing from a culture of fear to a culture of responsibility,” he once wrote on Facebook. “For the first time, the initiative from below is not perceived as a threat, but rather as an enrichment.”
Demonstration against the dismissal of the defense minister.Image: keystone
Anyone who thinks that Drapatyi is a romantic, woke dreamer is way wrong. He already earned a reputation as a fearless fighter in the small war against the Russians and the separatists in Donbass. Back then, still with the rank of major, he freed hostages held captive by Russians in a daring operation in the port of Mariupol in May 2014.
Drapatyi is also a man who takes responsibility and holds himself accountable when failures occur. When twelve recruits died in a Russian missile attack at a training camp he commanded, he immediately offered to resign. «An army in which the commanders take personal responsibility for the lives of their subordinates is alive. An army in which no one takes responsibility dies,” he wrote at the time. However, Zelenskyi refused to resign.
Not only in terms of mentality, but also in terms of the style of modern warfare, Drapatyi is up to date. Together with the fired defense minister, he is considered the architect of the modern drone war that the Ukrainian army is currently using to keep the Russians at bay. Everything also indicates that Fedorov will also be entrusted with an important role in the government.
The castling at the head of the army therefore creates enthusiasm. “There is currently no better person for this position in Ukraine,” the BBC quoted a Ukrainian soldier as saying. Mykola Bielieskow from the NGO Come Back Alive confirms this statement. “Drapatyi has a very good reputation among the lower ranks, especially among those who joined the army after 2022.”
Another soldier, who wished to remain unnamed, even told the BBC: If Fedorov were to be put back into office, it would be “Russia’s worst nightmare.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulates his new commander-in-chief.Image: keystone
However, a Herculean task awaits the new commander-in-chief. He must overhaul the recruitment system, protect the energy system from Russian attacks in the coming winter and replenish dwindling ammunition reserves. He must also continue to stop the Russians’ “meat grinder campaign” in Donbass.
He will therefore not be able to rest on his laurels. As Oleskiy Kopytko, a former adviser to the interior minister, explained to the BBC: “As commander-in-chief you are first revered and loved by everyone, then no longer loved by everyone – and finally you are to blame for everything that goes wrong.”