Why Zelenskyy has sacked Ukraine's armed forces chief

In a significant move in the middle of a war, Ukraine's president has sacked his military chief and is seeking to woo a former defence minister back into the fold – just days after ousting him too.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy must surely be trying to restore stability to his top, warfighting team following an outbreak of self-inflicted, internecine conflict that will only benefit Russia.

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In the end, he had little option but to axe General Oleksandr Syrskyi as commander in chief in the wake of almost a week of unrest, including widespread street protests, against his earlier decision to remove Mykhailo Fedorov from the helm of the Ministry of Defence.

There had been months of friction between Fedorov and Syrskyi, 60, with the former saying he had asked the president to fire the general but instead being forced to quit himself.

The top military officer will be replaced by a younger but similarly battle-hardened – and more popular – commander called Mykhailo Drapatyi.

Zelenskyy also said he had spoken with Fedorov to offer him a "prominent position" back in government.

It is not clear whether this offer will be accepted, with reports that Fedorov – also well-liked and seen as an innovator and a driving force behind the evolution of drone warfare – would only return to his previous role as defence minister.

Either way, Zelenskyy clearly decided he had no choice but to get rid of Syrskyi just over two years after appointing him to the position of military chief following the sacking of his predecessor, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who is now Ukraine's ambassador to the UK.

It is a spectacular fall from grace for a commander who had been championed for leading the defence of Kyiv in the early days of Russia's full-scale war.

Syrskyi was also praised for heading a successful counteroffensive later in 2022 to retake swathes of the Kharkiv region in the northeast of the country and for devising an audacious attack by Ukraine into the Russian region of Kursk.

But the commander, who learnt his trade in Ukraine's Soviet-era military, had become deeply unpopular among many of his own troops as commander in chief.

'We have come a long way'

Zelenskyy paid tribute to him in a post on social media that confirmed he was being replaced.

"It is a fact that Oleksandr Syrskyi delivered results for Ukraine in the defence of Kyiv, the Kharkiv offensive, and the Kursk operation," he said.

"We have come a long way; Ukraine's defence continues, and every warrior must be treated with dignity… We all want the same thing: to defeat the enemy and create the conditions – on the front line and through pressure on Russia – that would allow us to force Russia into peace.

"Tomorrow, we will formalise all of these decisions. Ukraine must emerge from this situation stronger, and it will be harder for Russia. Glory to Ukraine!"

(c) Sky News 2026: Why Zelenskyy has sacked Ukraine's armed forces chief