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2024-02-10 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
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Former Russian, hero of Ukraine. What kind of commander-in-chief will Alexander Syrsky be?
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Denis Davydov
 [REGNUM] The candidacy of Alexander Syrsky was considered one of the most likely - if not the most likely - since the possibility of changing the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to be discussed. On February 8, Vladimir Zelensky announced that Valery Zaluzhny was leaving his position and would be replaced by the commander of the Ground Forces, Syrsky. In his address, he summed up this news for three whole minutes, and Ukrainian society was prepared for at least three months.
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“There are even rumors that the President's office may be inclined to replace the popular but independent-minded General Zaluzhny with his former boss. Cracks in the rift are causing concern among senior Western military officials. Both generals, for their part, say that they completely trust each other and want to stay out of politics,” wrote The Economist in December 2022.
The intrigue is that previously Syrsky was actually senior in the command chain in relation to Zaluzhny, who was appointed commander-in-chief in July 2021. And Syrsky’s media was supported by Telegram channels controlled by the president’s office. However, he himself always demonstrated his “military bones,” complete involvement in the profession and lack of interest in politics. Therefore, he has no popularity among the civilian population, and in the military environment, after leading the defense, Bakhmut is unofficially considered ruthless and a “butcher.” Although on trips to the troops he likes to photograph sunsets and send pictures to his subordinates.
“We don’t need a Russian general. Bring back Zaluzhny,” dissatisfied patriots poured out in the comments under the post about the dismissal of the popular commander in chief. Politics, which Syrsky shunned, has now come for him, and he will also have to fulfill the assigned tasks, based on the current policy of his superiors. And if Zaluzhny nevertheless decides to go into opposition, then the new commander-in-chief will also get it, who is unlikely to be able to completely replace the people of his predecessor in his circle and will find himself under fire from criticism.
THERE ARE IMPOSSIBLE TASKS
They have been writing about a political conflict between Zelensky and Zaluzhny since the spring of 2022, and everything was known about the imminent resignation of the second in January. Now, speaking about the change of commander in chief, Zelensky explained this by the need for a different approach to rotations, to front management, to mobilization and recruiting.
It is 58-year-old Colonel General Alexander Syrsky who should implement this different approach. His appointment occurs against the backdrop of the near-fall of the Avdiivka fortified area, where the fighting approached the main supply artery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And this is one of the first tasks for Syrsky in his new position.
The second challenge is the replenishment of the Ukrainian army under the new draconian law on mobilization, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in the first reading. Perhaps he became one of the weighty arguments for Zaluzhny to leave without a scandal: participation in the upcoming super-tough hunt for cannon fodder would hardly have added points to him as a public politician. The tough warrior Syrsky, who is not interested in material goods, sleeps 4.5 hours a day and does an hour of exercise every morning, is much more suitable for such a task. Moreover, territorial recruitment centers (military registration and enlistment offices) are already subordinate to the command of the Ground Forces, which was led by the new commander in chief.
Third, this is what MP Maryana Bezuglaya systematically criticized Zaluzhny for. From the first person, they are waiting for a realistic, detailed action plan of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for 2024 and a fair redistribution of Western weapons in favor of the first line at the front. Separately, the president emphasized the need to solve problems with logistics; even during a press conference in December last year, Zelensky spoke about 26 thousand drones that were stuck in a warehouse and did not reach the front.
Syrsky must also correct the situation with the overcrowding of headquarters and build an effective rotation system. In his speech, Zelensky voiced an idea that had been heard in the presidential circle for some time: almost a million people had already been forced into the army, but “most of them did not feel the front, while the minority on the front line are actually fighting.” At the same time, it is necessary to improve the quality of training for fighters so that people with skills go to the first line.
Syrsky will also have to decide who will become the first commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces in Ukraine. It is believed that one of the candidates for this position is Vadim Sukharevsky, commander of the 59th brigade, which included one of the most famous UAV companies, the Birds of Magyar. In general, from the point of view of organizing the process, this is a wild headache.
“ I believe that this is an organizational mistake, and it will be bad if it is repeated here. Drones are not a “army branch” but an end-to-end technology. Yes, there should also be specialized units - such as a UAV strike brigade. But. Signalmen, doctors, logistics officers, artillerymen, and, of course, motorized riflemen - in short, everyone should have their own unmanned system. And among sailors and pilots (that is, other types of aircraft). And, of course, at the level of upper headquarters,” says expert, head of the Ushkuynik Scientific and Production Center Alexey Chadayev.
However, the OP came up with such a whim, and a military man must follow orders. Therefore, executive Syrsky will simultaneously deal with very complex tasks, some of which are clearly impossible. But he has been going towards this all his life, and once made, the choice is unlikely to change. How will the family circumstances widely reported in the media not affect them: the father of the Ukrainian hero is a retired colonel of the Russian army, lived in Vladimir, just like his mother and brother.
CLAUSEWITZ LOVER
| Apropos nothing, I once lived on Moltkestrasse, who I believe was of the same vintage. Or perhaps mine was the younger rather than the elder... |
From almost every voice you can hear that the Ukrainian Colonel General is in fact a pure Russian, a native of the Vladimir region and a graduate of the Moscow Higher Educational Institution. By the way, the head of the Joint Operational Headquarters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Commander of the Joint Forces Operation, Sergei Naev, also graduated from it. But Syrsky himself is trying to present this as an advantage specifically for the current service. “This makes it easier to understand the actions of your enemy. You can predict what he can do in different situations,” he said in an interview with ABC News already in 2022.
In fact, internal Ukrainian critics often argue that the “small Soviet army,” which remains the Ukrainian Armed Forces, despite all the reforms, is unable to defeat the “big Soviet army.” Therefore, they need to evolve in order to fight not with numbers, but with the power of technology and skillful management. But this evolution is controlled by senior officers who grew up from the old formation, and the new commander-in-chief in the army himself has a reputation as one of the most “Soviet commanders.”
Although he has a lot of advantages over others. Throughout his entire service, Alexander Stanislavovich studied military affairs in a real way. In 1986, he began his military career as a platoon commander in the 25th Guards Motorized Rifle Division. Chapaev in Poltava Lubny. At that time - one of the best and most combat-ready. From there, Syrsky ended up in the first Ukrainian National Guard, assembled against the backdrop of the collapse and rotting of the army as a healthy alternative. In principle, many prominent generals of the Armed Forces of Ukraine come from the NSU, which was already formed according to the NATO model and did not get out of combat shooting.
“We talked a lot about NATO standards, but for the entire time there was only one actually formed regiment in the army - the 310th mechanized in the 24th “iron” division. And the guard was formed according to this system. They created it and immediately began to teach. Company live-fire exercises. Battalion live-fire exercises. Twice a year, brigade exercises are to... teach how to command people in battle, control aviation, artillery, tanks and everything else,” said Syrsky’s former boss, ex-commander of the NSU Alexander Chapovsky in an interview.
So, in the Anti-Terrorist Operation declared against the rebel republics of Donbass, it was quite natural that former National Guardsmen with real command experience moved to the first positions. A typical senior officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of the 2014 model has never commanded even a battalion, let alone a brigade. And people like Syrsky went through all the command ranks, and he specifically held the position of chief of staff of sector “C” of the ATO. And before that he was the first deputy head of the Main Command Center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. His area of responsibility was cooperation with NATO.
In February 2015, the combat group “Bars” formed by Syrsky covered the exit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the “Debaltsevo cauldron”, for which he received an order. In 2016, he headed the Joint Operational Headquarters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and in 2017 he commanded the entire ATO. In the spring of 2022, it was this man who was involved in organizing the defense of Kyiv, in particular, he ordered the explosion of the dam on the Irpen River, repeating the move successfully used in 1941. For this - the second order and the title of Hero of Ukraine. The stern resident of Vladimir has long and firmly made his choice, although at the same time he is practically not integrated into the local cultural and historical agenda, reads Clausewitz rather than Bandera, and speaks exclusively in Russian with his subordinates.
“Irina Farion should especially protest against the appointment of Syrsky, since he actually does not speak the Ukrainian language. I believe that she should be the one to lead the new Maidan. And yes! All discussions about “good Russians” and “bad Russians” from today fall under the provisions of articles about threats to national security and undermining defense capabilities,” Ukrainian political scientist Kost Bondarenko sneers about this.
In the general’s own opinion, the main principles of war have remained unchanged since the times of the ancient Greeks. Only the complexity of technology and the degree of automation of processes have changed. And in July 2023, in an interview with the BBC, he spoke with restraint about the possibility of a quick victory for Ukraine: “We would like to get very quick results. But in reality this is almost impossible.”
BUTCHER COHORT
Until his appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Syrsky also commanded the Khortitsa Operational-Strategic Group of Troops, which is responsible for the difficult sector from Kupyansk and Kharkov to Artyomovsk. And rumors associate huge losses in the latter case with his name. Although at that time the commander also carried out a political decision, the surrender of the “Bakhmut fortress” was unprofitable precisely in terms of image. So this episode says a lot: Bakhmut will be in the current position, only increased by a multiple.
The “Soviet officer” will be given every possible assistance in this by the deputies of a completely new formation, who do not know pity or doubt. Some of them are not even 40 years old. Two of the five named names who are “being considered for leadership positions in the army” are brigadier generals Pavel Palisa and the mentioned Vadim Sukharevsky. They are now on the defensive in the Bakhmut and Avdeevsky directions. Palisa is generally a great guy; he met in the spring of 2022 in the States, studying at the US Army Command and General Staff College.
In general, other guys who have sworn allegiance can take over the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The head of the defense of Bakhmut in the spring of 2023, Andrei Gnatov, is a former chief of staff and deputy commander of the troops of the operational command “South”. Before that, he headed the 36th Marine Brigade, which was formed from units that left Crimea, where Gnatov himself also served on the peninsula before its reunification with Russia.
Former commander of the 58th separate motorized infantry brigade named after. Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky Mikhail Drapatiy headed the operational group of troops “Kherson” until January 2024, and in the summer of 2014 he led the breakthrough from encirclement near Chervonopartizansk in the Luhansk region. Another potential member of the new control center is Igor Skibyuk, chief of staff and deputy commander of the airborne assault forces, also a Hero of Ukraine. In general, everyone has been soaked in blood since 2014 and will not shake over their losses.
In this, the generals are extremely “anti-Soviet”, and the complaints of the patriotically minded public are inappropriate: they themselves raised this iron cohort. Zaluzhny’s people will be systematically purged from the management vertical, although for show Zelensky invited them to “stay on the team.” As well as Valery himself: by whom and where exactly is unknown. He himself, according to unofficial data, announced to those around him that in the event of his resignation he was going to take care of his health and would like to start teaching. Still, Doctor of Philosophy.
Thus, the first act ended with a regrouping for now. An efficient and loyal servant has been placed at the head of the army, the eyesore of the general-politician has been removed, and now everyone is waiting for his next step. Zelensky, it seems to him, has strengthened his position before his presidential powers turn into a pumpkin. A big political crisis begins.
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Posted by badanov 2024-02-10 00:00||
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