General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Russian-born Kharkiv raised CinC of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is living up to his reputation … always on the move, shaking things up and constantly striving to keep his army nimble and in exceptional fighting trim. The results are not all in yet but there’s no doubt that in the wake of the less than successful 2023 Ukrainian counter-offensive which cost his predecessor General Zaluzhnyi his job, Syrskyi’s army, constantly under relentless pressure from the Russian behemoth, has now stabilized, fought the Russians to a frazzle both in Ukraine and in Kursk Oblast, Russia. And in places along the nearly 700 mile long battle trace, he has the Russians on their back heels and giving ground they had paid for with a tremendous loss of personnel and materiel. The Russians are trying every door along the battle trace hoping to get lucky since Avdiivka/Ocheretyne but there’s seemingly always a well-prepared Ukrainian bulwark barring the door.
All the while Syrskyi has been re-shaping his army into modern combined arms NATO-Style Corps Units led by young battle-tested commanders who have proven their mettle in some of the fiercest battles in the war.
Ukraine Army to Field NATO-Style Corps Units for First Time in Major Command Upgrade
Army Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky may ruffle feathers with a plan to convert his best fighting brigades – many led by young, battle-tested officers - into modern combined arms formations.
www.kyivpost.com/...
Gone are most of the old guard commanders like General Yuri Sodol who was publicly castigated by his own troops for his uncaring attitude towards his marines and his penchant for ordering Russian-style forlorn hope attacks ending in the misuse of his men and their lives. Ukraine could just not afford to do that as a regular way of fighting. Sodol and others like him were cashiered out of the army, regardless of their long record of service and high rank.
Syrskyi has also been quick to remove, even caused the arrest of commanders, young or old who have been desultory or even criminally negligent in their duties:
Last month, four top-level military commanders in Ukraine were arrested for alleged mismanagement of battlefield operations — in the first criminal investigations of top military leadership since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Three high-ranking officers involved in what’s being called “the generals’ case” — Yurii Halushkin, Artur Horbenko, and Illia Lapin — are accused of failing to defend Kharkiv Oblast during Russia’s renewed offensive in the area in May 2024. Russian troops managed to get several kilometers beyond the border before Ukrainian troops halted the advance.
In a separate case, Colonel Dmytro Riumshyn stands accused of failing to report and prevent desertions in his newly formed 155th Brigade, ultimately leading to 56 soldiers deserting while training in France, and hundreds more — in Ukraine.
www.yahoo.com/...
The list of the corps command appointments has been released and as expected only three out of the nineteen or so commanders are holdovers from the Zaluzhnyi era. General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi being the oldest at age 54. Nevertheless he has been a proven tested commander who led the campaign to liberate Kherson and has been in the thick of the battle for Donetsk. He’s seemingly always with his 50year old boss(Syrskyi) wherever things are hottest.
The General Staff Appoints Army Corps Commanders
Organizational changes are set to take place within a month.
militaryland.net/...
The rest of the new corps commanders are in their thirties or early forties. And their battlefield records speak for themselves. Among them is Andriy Biletsky who founded the Azov Battalion and has fought in some of the toughest spots in Donetsk, successfully leading the fighting retreat and rescue of the nearly encircled Ukrainian troops from Avdiivka. It was the finest example of a large scale retrograde … one of the hardest tactical maneuvers to pull off in a hot war. And that experience has served Ukraine well in recent months as they have periodically had to fall back towards “Fortress Pokrovsk”.
But it is 33 year old Denys Prokopenko who led Azov’s long stalwart defense of the city of Mariupol until they were ordered to surrender by President Zelenskyy and were captured and taken into Russian captivity who will likely get the most mentions. Famously upon his release in a prisoner swap along with other leaders of the Mariupol stand, the tall angular soldier told President Zelenskyy who had personally flown to Turkey to bring them home that he wishes to return as soon as possible to his old battalion. And boy what a return. Prokopenko and Azov have been giving the Russians fits along the Toretsk-Siversk line and are now steadily pushing the Russians out. Units of Azov, now a brigade, have even occasionally taken on a “fire fighting brigade” role, jumping into some very hot spots to help stabilize things. They have become that kind of an extremely proficient battle formation.
Ihor Obolensky is another young commander well-known for his fierce defense and for pushing out last year’s second Russian Kharkiv invasion which culminated in the fierce battle for Vovchansk. He was earlier on also the commander of the National Guard and volunteer force units instrumental in chasing the Russians out of Lyman during the storied Syrskyi-led 2022 Ukrainian “Thunder Run” counter-offensive.
ADAPTIVE INDOMITABLE UKRAINE … imagining its strong bright future, re-imagining and re-shaping its present fighting force into a powerful NATO-style spearhead under the leadership of a new corps of young battle-tested commanders. Ukraine, Europe and Canada will stand.
SLAVA UKRAINI !
