Who is Ukraine’s new army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi? The Soviet-born ‘snow leopard’ who became a Ukrainian hero
Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi has been named as the new chief of Ukraine’s army.
The 58-year-old was promoted by Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he removed General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi from the post after months of friction between the pair.
Mr Syrskyi has played a key role in some of Ukraine’s biggest victories – but has also faced criticism for some of his tactics.
Here’s what you need to know about Ukraine’s new army chief.
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From Soviet Union to Ukraine
Mr Syrskyi was born in July 1965 in what is now Russia’s Vladimir region, which was then part of the Soviet Union.
He studied in Moscow at the Higher Military Command School – which has produced commanders in both the Russian and Ukrainian armed forces.
Described as an obsessive planner with iron discipline, some military analysts believe his battlefield tactics reflect his hierarchical Soviet training.
He graduated in 1986 and served in the Soviet Artillery Corps, but did not serve in post-Soviet Russia’s army.
Regardless, senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev called him a “traitor” on his appointment, accusing him of breaking his oath as an officer.
He moved to Ukraine in the 1980s.
The ‘snow leopard’ who became a Ukrainian hero
Mr Syrskyi has commanded troops against combined Russian forces since 2014, when he earned his call sign “snow leopard”.
They fought a Moscow-backed insurgency in eastern Ukraine using “tactics that were similar to how this cat hunts,” he told Reuters in January.
“This creature is very careful, cunning and courageous.”
Oleksandr Syrskyi speaks to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Pic: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters
Mr Syrskyi became head of Ukraine’s land forces in 2019.
Some of Ukraine’s biggest victories of Russia’s full-scale invasion were overseen by Mr Syrskyi.
He led the successful defence of Kyiv in the war’s early months and was later named a Hero of Ukraine, the country’s highest honour, for his role in repelling Moscow’s advance on the capital.
He was credited with orchestrating a lightning counteroffensive that pushed Russian troops away from the city of Kharkiv and retook swathes of land to the east and southeast.
Mr Syrskyi also led the Bakhmut operation, the war’s longest and bloodiest, which has been criticised because of the high losses suffered by Ukrainian forces.
But he has defended the operation, saying Ukraine’s dogged defence of Bakhmut damaged Russia’s overall war effort by tying down the Wagner mercenary group.
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‘Constant innovation’ needed for Ukraine to win
On his first full day in the job, Mr Syrskyi said Ukraine’s path to victory was reliant on constant innovation in the way it fights the war, highlighting technology like drones and electronic warfare.
He also promised to protect the lives and health of Ukrainian forces and ensure reliable logistics.
A new aid system has opened its first distribution centres in Gaza, according to a US-backed organisation dealing with supplies.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began its operations in the territory on Monday, following the resignation of its director, Jake Wood, over its independence.
Gaza’s 2.3m population has been pushed towards famine by Israel’s almost three-month blockade.
Boxes of aid to be distributed across Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
The GHF said lorryloads of food – it did not say how many – had been delivered to its hubs, and distribution to Palestinians had begun.
“More trucks with aid will be delivered tomorrow, with the flow of aid increasing each day,” it said in a statement.
The controversial group, backed by Israel and the United States, has been rejected by the United Nations and other aid groups.
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People line up for food in Gaza
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF.
They claim Israel is weaponising food, and the new distribution system will be ineffective and lead to further displacement of Palestinians.
They also argue the GHF will fail to meet local needs, and violates humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance.
In the meantime, scores of Palestinians in Gaza, like Islam Abu Taima, have resorted to searching through rubbish to find food.
Palestinians are having to search through rubbish to find food
She found a small pile of cooked rice, scraps of bread, and a box with a few pieces of cheese inside it – which she said she will serve to her five children.
“We’re dying of hunger,” she told the Associated Press news agency.
“If we don’t eat, we’ll die.”
Islam Abu Taeima finds a piece of bread in a pile of rubbish in Gaza City. Pic: AP.
It is unclear how many of the GHF’s aid trucks will enter Gaza.
It claims it will reach one million Palestinians by the end of the week.
There are questions, however, over who is funding it and how it will work.
Trucks transporting aid for Palestinians in Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
It has been set up as part of an Israeli plan – rather than a UN distribution effort.
Israel, which suggested a similar plan earlier this year, has said it will not be involved in distributing the aid but supported the plan and would provide security.
It says aid deliveries into Gaza are taken by Hamas instead of going to civilians.
Aid groups, however, say there is no evidence of this happening on a systemic basis.
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Israel began to allow a limited amount of food into Gaza last week – after a blockade that prevented food, medicine, fuel and other goods from entering the Palestinian enclave.
A letter has been signed by hundreds of judges and lawyers calling on the UK government to impose trade sanctions on Israel.
It also calls for Israeli ministers to be sanctioned and the suspension of Israel from the UN over “serious breaches of international law”.
“Genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or that, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide,” the letter says.
The Israeli government has repeatedly dismissed allegations of genocide in Gaza.
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At least 31 dead after school attack
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, following the deadly attacks by the militant group on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
The health ministry’s figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters in Gaza.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are being urged to use their visit to Canada to seek an apology for the abuse of British children.
Campaigners have called on them to pursue an apology for the “dire circumstances” suffered by so-called “Home Children” over decades.
More than 100,000 were shipped from orphan homes in the UK to Canada between 1869 and 1948 with many used as cheap labour, typically as farm workers and domestic servants. Many were subject to mistreatment and abuse.
Canada has resisted calls to follow the UK and Australia in apologising for its involvement in child migrant schemes.
King Charles and Mark Carney on Monday. Pic: PA
Campaigners for the Home Children say the royal visit presents a “great opportunity” for a change of heart.
“I would ask that King Charles uses his trip to request an apology,” John Jefkins told Sky News.
John’s father Bert was one of 115,000 British Home Children transported to Canada, arriving in 1914 with his brother Reggie.
“It’s really important for the Home Children themselves and for their descendants,” John said.
“It’s something we deserve and it’s really important for the healing process, as well as building awareness of the experience of the Home Children.
“They were treated very, very badly by the Canadian government at the time. A lot of them were abused, they were treated horribly. They were second-class citizens, lepers in a way.”
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John Jefkins
John added: “I think the King’s visit provides a great opportunity to reinforce our campaign and to pursue an apology because we’re part of the Commonwealth and King Charles is a new Head of the Commonwealth meeting a new Canadian prime minister. It’s a chance, for both, to look at the situation with a fresh eye.
“There’s much about this visit that looks on our sovereignty and who we are as Canadians, rightly so.
“I think it’s also right that in contemplating the country we built, we focus on the people who built it, many in the most trying of circumstances.”
The issue was addressed by the then Prince of Wales during a tour of Canada in May 2022. He said at the time: “We must find new ways to come to terms with the darker and more difficult aspects of the past.”
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King Charles and Queen Camilla are on a two-day visit to Canada.
On Tuesday, the King will deliver the Speech from the Throne to open the 45th session of Canada’s parliament.
Camilla was made Patron of Barnardo’s in 2016. The organisation sent tens of thousands of Home Children to Canada. She took on the role, having served as president since 2007.
Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.
A spokesperson for the Canadian government said: “The government of Canada is committed to keeping the memory of the British Home Children alive.
“Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada deeply regrets this unjust and discriminatory policy, which was in place from 1869 to 1948. Such an approach would have no place in modern Canada, and we must learn from past mistakes.”
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