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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Luke Harding in Dnipro

Zelenskyy fires Ukraine’s army chief and offers Fedorov ‘prominent position’

Oleksandr Syrskyi in a green beanie and desert camouflage jacket
Oleksandr Syrskyi was credited with leading the defence of Kyiv and launching a counter-invasion of Russia’s Kursk province in summer 2024. Photograph: Vitalii Nosach/EPA

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and offered a “prominent position” to the defence minister he sacked last week in a move that sparked nationwide protests.

In a late-night TV address, Zelenskyy said he was appointing Mykhailo Drapatyi, a popular and innovative general, as the new head of Ukraine’s armed forces. Drapatyi would oversee a reorganisation of the army’s command structure, Ukraine’s president said.

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