General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on July 22 that he is leaving the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which he had held for almost 2.5 years, and summed up his work in the position.

Syrskyi stated this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

"For every officer, it is the greatest responsibility to lead the army during a great war. I have seen this war since its first day in 2014, lived on the front line, and know the value of every kilometer of Ukrainian land that has been liberated," the general said.

According to Syrskyi, in February–March 2022 he had the honor of commanding the defense of Kyiv, and through joint efforts the capital held out. That same spring, the threat of a full encirclement of Kharkiv was removed.

Then came the offensive in the Kharkiv region, when within a matter of weeks the Defense Forces liberated Balakliia, Izium, and Kupiansk. Later in the Donetsk region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed the most combat-capable part of the Russian army — the Wagner PMC.

Syrskyi stressed that he took command of the army in February 2024, at a very difficult time. The defense of Avdiivka was ongoing. Ukrainian units were in a semi-encirclement.

"One of my first orders in this position was to organize an orderly withdrawal from the city. It was a difficult decision. But I made it because for me one main priority applied: saving people's lives," the former Commander-in-Chief emphasized.

And then came a year that changed the course of this war. The Armed Forces of Ukraine stopped the enemy's offensive in the Kharkiv region. They thwarted its offensive in the Sumy region. And they carried out the Kursk operation — for the first time in this war, combat operations were carried onto enemy territory.

"I want this to be clearly recorded: our goal was never to occupy someone else's land. Our goal was to disrupt the enemy's planned offensive on Sumy and Kharkiv, to pull away its most combat-ready troops, and to replenish the exchange fund so that we could bring our people back from captivity. All of this was accomplished," Syrskyi emphasized.

He said the army was changing not only on the battlefield but also at its core.

"We were the first in the world to create a separate branch of the armed forces — the Unmanned Systems Forces. We grew them from separate units into a system that today makes the enemy feel that it has no safe rear areas. We built a new air defense: created a separate command of air defense unmanned systems, formed regular units of interceptor drone crews, and built an echeloned system for covering the sky over the rear. What not long ago was an experiment by enthusiasts is today, every night, shooting down what was once considered impossible to shoot down," Syrskyi emphasized.

The Defense Forces closed the Black Sea port in Novorossiysk and are systematically destroying the enemy's shadow fleet.

"We transitioned the army to a corps structure, brought combat officers into headquarters, and made it the rule that the path to leadership positions runs through the front," Syrskyi noted.

According to him, while liberating Ukrainian territories, the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out a successful Dobropillia operation and an offensive operation in the Oleksandrivsk direction. They continue to hold back the enemy's offensive on the main directions and conduct offensive operations in certain sections of the front.

"I do not have the right to speak even today about some of the operations we carried out over these years. History will tell about them. I will say only this: the enemy remembered them," Syrskyi emphasized.

He also reported on the state in which he is handing over the battlefield.

This year, the Defense Forces liberated 700 square kilometers of Ukrainian land.

According to Syrskyi, the army that two years ago was conducting a difficult defense is today on the offensive.

"I am handing over to my successor an army that is not only holding the defense, but is also in an offensive posture — with initiative, with structure, with people who know how to hit the enemy. And I sincerely hope that this offensive will continue. Everything is there for that!" the general emphasized.

"My work is war. Positions change, but this principle does not. Whatever status I am in, I will serve Ukraine until Victory," Syrskyi concluded, adding that for a long time the world had tried to impose the idea that Ukrainians were incapable of fighting, but "we proved that this is not true. Ukraine is defended by a heroic people. Our country will endure if everyone does their work as diligently as the Ukrainian army does."

As Ukrinform reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi for the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and thanked Oleksandr Syrskyi for the results in the defense of Kyiv, and in the Kharkiv and Kursk operations.

Photo: Presidential Office