Zelenskyy resets Ukraine war command as protests push change

Kyiv,UPDATED: Jul 22, 2026 20:22 IST

Ukraine pressed on with its war effort under new military leadership on Wednesday after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy removed his commander-in-chief, bowing to public pressure during a political crisis that has run for nearly a week. The changes followed a wider government reshuffle in which Zelenskyy also removed Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, even as the war with Russia showed no sign of easing.

The overhaul is aimed at steadying Kyiv after internal tensions spilled into the open and drew public protests, while Russia said the changes would not affect the battlefield. Zelenskyy has now tasked the new army chief, Maj Gen Mykhailo Drapatyi, with presenting an updated defence strategy focused on corps reform, faster deliveries of weapons and drones, stronger air defence and a clearer mobilisation plan.

Drapatyi, 43, is part of a newer generation of Ukrainian commanders who rose through the ranks during the fight against Russian aggression. He became known in 2014, when Russia seized and illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, eight years before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.

There is still no sign of progress towards a peace settlement despite US-led diplomatic efforts. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was sticking to its earlier demands, including that Ukraine withdraw its forces from the four eastern regions Russia has seized but does not fully control, give up its NATO ambitions and sharply reduce the size of its army. Referring to the changes in Kyiv, Peskov said, "Kyiv's regime is trembling from within. It can be seen with the naked eye." He also said the top-level changes would not alter the front line and claimed Russian forces were on the offensive. With the roughly 1,250-kilometre front line largely closed to independent observers, both sides have also been fighting a propaganda battle.

Fedorov's future remained unclear on Wednesday. Zelenskyy met him separately on Tuesday and offered him what he called a respected government post that would unify Ukraine's technology sector, but it was not known whether Fedorov accepted. Fedorov, a 35-year-old entrepreneur credited with rapidly developing Ukraine's drone technology, had clashed with outgoing commander-in-chief Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, a 60-year-old veteran trained in the Soviet Union before Ukraine's independence. Street protests in Kyiv and other cities had demanded Fedorov's return, calling him a key military moderniser, and had urged Zelenskyy to dismiss Syrskyi, who was seen as part of the old guard.

The protests appeared set to continue on Friday despite Syrskyi's exit. Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a veteran and former combat medic who has become an informal voice of the demonstrations, wrote on Threads: "It is good that the dialogue is working. At the same time, we should not forget the protesters' second demand - to reinstate Mykhailo Fedorov as defence minister." After his dismissal last week, Fedorov said some global defence technology companies had offered him jobs. He backed Drapatyi's appointment, calling it a "new hope in the fight of free people for freedom and justice" and "a voice for change that could not go unheard." Before losing his post, Fedorov had publicly accused Syrskyi of blocking reforms and said the general needed to be replaced if Ukraine was not to fail in its resistance to Russia.

Syrskyi defended his wartime record in a statement on Wednesday. He said Ukrainian forces had regained 743 square kilometres of Russian-occupied territory this year and that he was handing over an army that was not only defending but also carrying out offensive operations, though the claim could not be independently verified. Fedorov later called Syrskyi to thank him for what he described as major military successes, including the defence of the Kyiv region at the time of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 and the Kharkiv counteroffensive later that year. He said those victories were "already an important part of Ukraine's history", but added that the country must "move even faster and write new chapters, correcting all previous mistakes." Zelenskyy also said he was appointing Maj Gen Ihor Skybiuk as chief of the General Staff as part of the overhaul.

The political realignment unfolded as both countries continued long-range strikes. Ukrainian drones overnight hit two more warehouses belonging to Russia's major online retailer Wildberries in Krasnodar and Stavropol, according to founder Tatyana Kim and Russian officials. The strikes came four days after Ukrainian drones hit large Wildberries warehouses in the Moscow and Tambov regions, killing eight people and injuring dozens, officials said. Zelenskyy, without naming the sites, said they had been used by Russia to supply sanctioned components for the production of drones and navigation equipment. Russia, meanwhile, has struck several major Ukrainian logistics hubs and retail facilities over the past week. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched four missiles of various types and 216 long-range strike drones overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday. In the southern Odesa region, a Russian drone hit a two-storey apartment building and killed a woman, regional military administration head Oleh Kiper said. Overall, Ukraine's leadership reset has come amid continuing protests at home, hardening positions from Moscow and fresh attacks by both sides.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends