Oleksandr Stanislavovych Syrskyi (; born 26 July 1965) is a Ukrainian

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

. Holding the rank of four-star

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

, he has served as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since . Previously, he was the commander of the

Ukrainian Ground Forces The Ukrainian Ground Forces (SVZSU, ), also referred to as the Ukrainian army, is a land force, and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after Declaratio ...

from 2019 to 2024, and the commander of the Joint Forces Operation from May to August 2019. During the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Syrskyi commanded the defence of Kyiv. In September 2022, he commanded the Kharkiv counteroffensive. He then led the defense of Bakhmut into 2023.

Biography

Early career and personal life

Syrskyi was born on July 26, 1965 in the village of Novinki,

Vladimir Oblast Vladimir Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Vladimir, which is located east of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, the oblast's population was 1,443,693. The UNESCO World Heritage L ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, then in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

into a military family of ethnic Russians. As of 2023, his parents and brother live in Russia. In 1980, when Syrskyi was 15, his father was transferred to serve in the Soviet Armed Forces in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

.Who is Oleksandr Syrsky, the head of Ukraine's ground forces?
,

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

, Jun 8th 2023 Syrskyi graduated from high school in Kharkiv and entered the Moscow Higher Military Command School, the Soviet Union’s most prestigious military academy. After his graduation in 1986, Syrskyi joined the Soviet Artillery Corps. He initially served in a self-propelled artillery unit equipped with the 152 mm

2S5 Giatsint-S The 2S5 ''Giatsint-S'' () is a Soviet Union, Soviet 152 mm self-propelled gun. "2S5" is its GRAU designation. It has CBRN defense, nuclear, biological, and chemical protection. The 2S5 is capable of engaging targets at longer ranges and at a ...

and 203 mm 2S7 Pion self propelled howitzers, including in units earmarked to fire nuclear shells. He later served in Rocket Artillery units fielding the

BM-27 Uragan The BM-27 Uragan (; GRAU index 9P140) is a self-propelled 220 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union to deliver cluster munitions. The system began its service with the Soviet Army in the late 1970s, and was its first spi ...

MBRL. He served in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, the

Tajik SSR The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, also commonly known as Soviet Tajikistan, the Tajik SSR, TaSSR, or simply Tajikistan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1929 to 1991 in Central Asia. The Tajik Re ...

, and

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

until the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in 1991. In 1993, following the

dissolution of the USSR Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dissolution'', a 2002 novel by Richard Lee Byers in the War of the Spider Queen series * Dissolution (Sansom novel), ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), by C. J. Sansom, 2003 * Dissolution (Binge no ...

, Syrskyi's military unit in

Chuhuiv Chuhuiv () or Chuguev () is a city in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. The city is the Capital (political), administrative center of Chuhuiv Raion (district). It hosts the administration of Chuhuiv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population ...

was transferred under Ukrainian command, and at the age of 28 he was quickly promoted to a position of a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

commander (equivalent to the rank of lieutenant-colonel). In 1996 he graduated from the National Defense University of Ukraine, and in 2005 he received a graduate degree from the same university. In the early 2000s, he was promoted to commander of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade, based in

Bila Tserkva Bila Tserkva ( ; , ) is a city in central Ukraine. It is situated on the Ros (river), Ros River in the historical region of right-bank Ukraine. It is the largest city in Kyiv Oblast (which does not include the city of Kyiv) and serves as the ...

and promoted to the rank of major-general. In 2007 he was appointed as a Chief of Staff – first deputy of the United Operative Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In 2011-2012 he was first deputy of the Main Directorate of military collaboration and peace-keeping operations. In 2013 he was stationed at

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

's headquarters in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. Syrskyi is married to a Ukrainian woman, and has 2 sons with her. Russian propaganda has spread false information about Syrskyi, including that he has an adopted son in Australia.

War in Donbas

At the beginning of the war in Eastern Ukraine, he was the chief of staff of anti-terrorist operations. In particular, he was one of the chief commanders of the anti-terrorist operation forces during the battle of Debaltseve. In the winter of 2015, he went to the city with the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko. He led the battles in Vuhlehirsk, the village of Ridkodub and an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Lohvynove. He also coordinated the withdrawal of the Ukrainian military from Debaltseve. Under his leadership, possible routes of crossing the Karapulka River were blown up. Oleksandr Syrskyi was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky III degree and later received the rank of

lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

due to his achievement during the battle of Debaltseve. In 2016, he headed the Joint Operational Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which coordinates the operational actions of various Ukrainian security forces in the Donbas. In 2017, he was the commander of the entire Anti-Terrorist Operation in eastern Ukraine. It was later replaced by the Joint Forces Operation. From 6 May to 5 August 2019 he was the commander of the Joint Operational Staff of the

Armed Forces of Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

. On 5 August, Syrskyi was appointed as Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On 23 August 2020, he was promoted to the rank of

colonel general Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

Russian invasion of Ukraine

During the

, Syrskyi initially organised and led the defense of Kyiv. In April 2022, Syrskyi was given the

Hero of Ukraine A Hero of Ukraine (HOU; ) is the highest national decoration that can be conferred upon an individual citizen by the president of Ukraine. The decoration was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma. As of 6 June 2025, the total number of re ...

award for his efforts. In September 2022, media reported that Syrskyi was the architect behind the successful Kharkiv counteroffensive. During the war, Syrskyi was criticised for pursuing bloody Soviet-style military tactics which resulted in significant Ukrainian losses during the

Battle of Bakhmut The battle of Bakhmut was a major battle between the Russian Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrainian Armed Forces for control of the city of Bakhmut, during the eastern Ukraine campaign, a theatre of the Russian invasion of Uk ...

, and was nicknamed "General 200" (a reference to Cargo 200, a Soviet military code denoting military fatalities). On 8 February 2024, Ukrainian president

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

replaced Valerii Zaluzhnyi with Syrskyi as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, following months of speculation of a rift between Zaluzhnyi and Zelenskyy. On 17 February, as his first major decision as commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi ordered the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from

Avdiivka Avdiivka (, ; , ) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. The city is located in the centre of the oblast, just north of the regional centre, Donetsk. The large Avdiivka Coke Plant is located in Avdiivka. The city had a population of before th ...

to "more favourable lines" in order "to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of service personnel". On 28 April he announced that Ukrainian forces had retreated from the villages of Berdychi, Semenivka, and Novomykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast due to the positions becoming untenable. On 24 July Syrskyi granted an interview to a British newspaper. He said "We will do everything we can to reach the internationally recognised borders of 1991," and talked about his planned use of the F-16 platform to intercept Russian cruise missiles. On 23 August Syrskyi was promoted to the rank of

Military ranks

* Major general (20 August 2009) *

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

(5 December 2016) *

Colonel general Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

(23 August 2020) *

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

(23 August 2024)

Awards

* Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky III degree (14 March 2015) * Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky II degree (18 March 2022) *

(5 April 2022) * Cross of Military Merit (27 July 2022) * Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky I degree (11 December 2022)

References

External links

* (10 September 2022) {{DEFAULTSORT:Syrskyi, Oleksandr Colonel Generals of Ukraine 1965 births Living people People from Vladimir Oblast Recipients of the Order of Gold Star (Ukraine) Recipients of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 3rd class Ukrainian military personnel of the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukrainian people of Russian descent Recipients of the Cross of Military Merit (Ukraine)