Fedorov’s ousting prompted six days of widespread protests, with Zelensky coming under mounting pressure to dismiss Syrskyi.
Zelensky appeared to have bowed to that pressure by replacing him with Drapatyi, who is seen as a younger, more innovative commander. Drapatyi is also thought to be a close friend of Federov’s.
Federov’s clear endorsement of Drapatyi is likely to go some way towards defusing the political crisis of the past week.
For the time being, acting Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara remains in the position. President Zelensky has asked him and Drapatyi to come up with a new defence strategy, covering key issues like reforming the military corps system, weapons supply and drones.
Syrskyi has so far not publicly commented on the latest developments.
On Monday, he wrote an op-ed for the Militarny website, saying of his relationship with Fedorov: “I perceived our relationship as a working one”.
“If I offended anyone, Mykhailo Albertovych [Fedorov], I’m sorry.”
On the protests that have been held in several Ukrainian cities, the general wrote that the issues of military contracts, procurement and mobilisation currently being aired in the press and boiled down to pithy slogans by protesters were a great deal more complicated than most people realised.
“Decisions on which people’s lives depend are not made with slogans,” he said. “Real work, not the public drama surrounding it, wins the war,” Syrskyi wrote.
Protesters will still want to see Fedorov backing a position of real authority, where he can continue to drive forward innovation in Ukraine’s battle with Russia.
If he gets such a position, Zelensky will have repaired the immediate damage. But many will not forgive him for making what they saw as the wrong choice in the first place.
