{"id":1526731,"date":"2026-07-22T05:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T10:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=1526731"},"modified":"2026-07-22T05:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T10:38:08","slug":"ukraine-overhauls-its-military-top-brass-for-the-fight-against-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=1526731","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine overhauls its military top brass for the fight against Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, new commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Mykhailo Drapatyi looks on during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 20, 2026. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 Ukraine pushed on with its fight against Russia\u2019s invasion under new military leadership Wednesday, after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy bowed to public pressure and fired his commander-in-chief.<\/p>\n

Ukraine has made significant progress in the war this year, and a rift between the country\u2019s outgoing army chief and its defense minister threatened to derail its efforts. Both men lost their jobs following Zelenskyy\u2019s major government reshuffle last week.<\/p>\n

The top-level changes late Tuesday were intended to draw a line under an unwelcome spasm of political turmoil that lasted almost a week and prompted rejoicing in Russia. It was not clear whether Zelenskyy’s measures would achieve that goal.<\/p>\n

The new army chief, 43-year-old Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi, belongs to a new generation of Ukrainian generals who have come up through the ranks during the battle against Russian aggression. He became known for his daring and courage in 2014, the year that Russia seized and illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula \u2014 eight years before Moscow’s all-out invasion.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said Drapatyi and other commanders must present an updated defense strategy, including continued reform of the corps system, faster weapon and drone deliveries, stronger air defense against Russian strikes, and a clearer mobilization plan.<\/p>\n

Fedorov’s future is still uncertain<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zelenskyy met separately Tuesday with outgoing defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov, a 35-year-old tech-savvy entrepreneur credited with swiftly developing Ukraine\u2019s drone technology that has given it a battlefield edge.<\/p>\n

Fedorov locked horns with outgoing commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, a 60-year-old veteran trained in the Soviet Union before Ukraine\u2019s independence.<\/p>\n

Street protests in Kyiv and other cities demanded Fedorov\u2019s return, viewing him as a key military modernizer, and urged Zelenskyy to fire Syrskyi, regarded as part of the old guard.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy offered Fedorov what he called a respected position in the government that would unify the country\u2019s technology sector. It wasn\u2019t clear if Fedorov accepted the offer — or whether the latest moves would satisfy protesters and calm the streets.<\/p>\n

Fedorov said after his dismissal last week that he had been offered jobs by some global defense tech companies.<\/p>\n

Fedorov supported Drapatyi’s appointment, calling it a \u201cnew hope in the fight of free people for freedom and justice\u201d and \u201ca voice for change that could not go unheard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fedorov had criticized Syrskyi publicly before his dismissal, saying the general was blocking his reform efforts and needed to be replaced for Ukraine not to fail in its resistance against Russia.<\/p>\n

Outgoing military chief points to recent battlefield achievements<\/strong><\/p>\n

Syrskyi defended his wartime record in a statement Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Among other things, he claimed Ukrainian forces had clawed back 743 square kilometers (287 square miles) of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory this year and said he was handing his successor an army that was not only defending but also conducting offensive operations.<\/p>\n

It was not possible to independently verify his claim.<\/p>\n

Fedorov called Syrskyi to thank him for his military triumphs, including defending the Kyiv region at the time of Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion, the Kharkiv counteroffensive operation later that year and other battles, calling them \u201calready an important part of Ukraine\u2019s history.\u201d But he added that the country must \u201cmove even faster and write new chapters, correcting all previous mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The political crisis began last Thursday, when Zelenskyy overhauled his wartime government, replacing his prime minister and firing Fedorov after just six months in the post.<\/p>\n

The reshuffle immediately drew thousands of protesters into the streets of Kyiv and other cities, framing Fedorov\u2019s removal as Zelenskyy siding with an entrenched military old guard over a reformer.<\/p>\n

Russia and Ukraine keep up their long-range strikes<\/strong><\/p>\n

The political maneuvers took place against a backdrop of continued deadly strikes by Russia and Ukraine onto each other’s soil.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian drones overnight struck two more sprawling warehouses of Russia\u2019s major online retailer, Wildberries, in Russia\u2019s southern regions of Krasnodar and Stavropol, Wildberries founder Tatyana Kim and Russian officials said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The strikes came four days after Ukraine\u2019s long-range drones hit massive Wildberries warehouses in the Moscow region and in the Tambov region, killing eight people and wounding dozens, according to officials.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said, without naming the facilities, that they were used by Russia to supply sanctioned components for the production of drones and navigation equipment.<\/p>\n

Russian attacks, meanwhile, have also struck several major Ukrainian logistics hubs and retail facilities over the past week.<\/p>\n

Russia attacked Ukraine with four missiles of various types and 216 long-range strike drones overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, according to the Ukrainian air force.<\/p>\n

In the southern Odesa region, a Russian drone killed a woman when it struck a two-story apartment building, regional military administration head Oleh Kiper said.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow the AP\u2019s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/russia-ukraine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ukraine pushed on with its fight against Russia\u2019s invasion under new military leadership Wednesday, after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy bowed to public pressure and fired his commander-in-chief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1526732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1502,1504],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1526731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abc-heads","category-abc-world-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-07-24 05:37:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1526731"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1526733,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526731\/revisions\/1526733"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1526732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1526731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1526731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1526731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}