Ukraine defence crisis pits tech reformers against army chief
Protesters have given President Volodymyr Zelensky until Friday to dismiss the military commander, a standoff that will determine whether Ukraine’s war effort pivots to high-tech innovation or remains tied to traditional mass-mobilisation doctrine.
Veteran Dmytro Koziatynsky has warned that if General Oleksandr Syrskyi is not dismissed and former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov is not nominated to replace him by Friday, an open-ended nationwide protest will begin. "If, by Friday July 24th Syrskyi has not been dismissed and Federov has not been nominated for the post of Minister of Defence," Koziatynsky wrote on social media, "we will begin an open-ended nationwide protest." The ultimatum follows a weekend of frantic consultations as Zelensky attempts to resolve the crisis triggered by his decision last week to part ways with Fedorov.
Beneath the political drama lies a fundamental dispute over the future structure of Ukraine’s military and its procurement processes. The 60-year-old Syrskyi is widely viewed as a proponent of traditional, Soviet-era military doctrine, whereas the 35-year-old Fedorov is credited with driving technological innovation during his six months at the defence ministry. For European backers, the outcome dictates whether their financial and material support ultimately funds a conventional mass army or a modernised, drone-centric force.
Syrskyi pushed back against his critics on Monday, arguing that the issues of military contracts, procurement and mobilisation are too complex for street protests. "Decisions on which people's lives depend are not made with slogans," he wrote in an op-ed for the Militarny website. He also took a thinly veiled swipe at Fedorov’s recent press conference, stating: "Presentations should not turn into self-representations," and insisting that "behind each slide there should be a document, a budget and a procedure."
While the general defended his record on technology—pointing to his creation of an unmanned systems force—public sentiment has largely aligned with the ousted minister. "It's often said that a small Soviet army can't defeat a big Soviet army. It's time to change the mindset and start the new type of war," said 44-year-old Tetiana Makarenko at a weekend demonstration. Syrskyi countered that a rapid total transformation is impossible, arguing: "I cannot transform a million-strong army to drones in two months and say: now we fight like this."
Kyrylo Budanov, head of the president's office, has urged calm, acknowledging the protests near the presidential palace but warning against internal division. "The enemy is closely monitoring our every internal dispute and is waiting for us to start fighting among ourselves," he wrote on Tuesday. Zelensky is now weighing who might replace Syrskyi, with candidates like 46-year-old Andriy Bileksky and 35-year-old Denys Prokopenko representing a younger generation of officers, while stating that "Ukraine must enter August as strong as possible" ahead of expected Russian attacks on energy infrastructure.
