Oleksandr Syrskyi is the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. What is known about him?
Oleksandr Syrskyi was born in Russia. In 1986, he graduated from the Moscow Higher Military Command School.
He served in Ukraine and remained there after the declaration of independence.
In 1996, he graduated from the Academy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Defense University.
In the 2000s, Syrskyi commanded the 72nd Mechanized Brigade. With the onset of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014, he served as the Chief of Staff of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO).
In 2015, he commanded the ATO forces during the battles for Debaltseve. For this, he was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 3rd Class. Additionally, Alexander Syrskyi directed the battles in Vuhlehirsk, the village of Ridkodub, and Logvinove.
Since 2019, Syrskyi has been the Commander of the Ground Forces.
Zelenskyy referred to Syrskyi as "the most experienced commander."
"He has successful experience in defense. He led the Kyiv defensive operation. He also has successful experience in offense, which is the Kharkiv liberation operation," the president said.
For his role in the defense of Kyiv, he was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.
In August 2022, Syrskyi revealed in an interview with The Washington Post, that during Kyiv defence, he organized two rings of troops, one in the suburbs and one within the city itself. He wanted the outer ring to be as far away from the inner one as possible to protect the city centre from shelling and to keep the Russians at bay from approaching Kyiv.
Ukrainian military moved all command posts into the field towards likely Russian advance directions a week before the invasion.
"Syrskyi also ordered the relocation of army aviation assets, including helicopters and jet planes, from main bases, moving them away from obvious targets for air strikes," the publication writes.
Later, Oleksandr Syrskyi commanded an offensive operation in the Kharkiv region, during which Ukrainian forces liberated cities such as Balakliia, Vovchansk, Kupiansk, Kupiansk-Vuzlovyy, and others.
Furthermore, he was appointed as commander-in-chief of the defence of Bakhmut. In August 2023 he expressed in an interview with the BBC his desire to liberate Bakhmut in Donetsk region and considered it appropriate to fight for it despite the fact that it diverted Ukrainian forces from the southern front.
"Bakhmut is the centre for the concentration of main directions and roads. Using a developed road network, Russian forces can advance on at least three such operational axes," Syrskyi said, as quoted by journalists.
Oleksandr Syrskyi headed the operational-strategic grouping of troops "Khortytsia," which includes the Kharkiv, Izyum, Lyman, Kupiansk, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Vuhledar directions.
