Ukraine’s military criticizes sacking of popular defense minister

Chief among the “relics,” according to the soldiers who responded to our inquiry, is the 60-year-old commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Oleksandr Sirsky.

Hailed as a national hero four years ago, following his successful defense of Kiev in the weeks following a full-scale Russian invasion, General Sirsky’s name has since become associated with a way of fighting that places little value on human life.

“Syrsky did not command any power or respect,” Andrey told us. “For us he remains General 200,” a derogatory nickname referring to Soviet military law.

Others simply call it “the meat”.

To be fair, not everyone in the military shares such a dim view of their leader.

“At the moment there is no replacement for Sirsky in the army,” Andrey, a former front-line soldier who now works in the General Staff, told us.

“Yes, he is Soviet-minded and graduated from a military school in Russia, but we don’t have another military commander like him. He did all the successful operations of this war.”

One thing is clear: Mykhailo Fedorov and General Sirski fell flat this week when President Zelensky made the move.

Explaining his decision not to re-appoint Fedorov, Zelensky said the two men could not even be together in the same room, accusing the ousted minister-general of blocking all reforms.

“It snowballed,” Andre told us. “Everyone knew about it, Zelensky had to make a decision.”

With a 25-year age difference (Fedorov is 35), the two men at the center of this explosive row represent very different versions of Ukraine.

“Fedorov is an iPhone 16, Sirsky is a 1980s phone,” says Ivan Stupak, a military analyst and former intelligence officer.

“You know, the same goal, but in different ways.”