Ukraine’s dramatic lightning invasion of Russia’s Kursk region—advancing at a pace that has surprised many—is the result of meticulous planning over several months, executed with remarkable secrecy and, so far, with impressive success.
The operation, which has led to the capture of numerous Russian soldiers, is largely credited to Ukraine’s chief of general staff, 59-year-old Oleksandr Syrskyi, who previously commanded the country’s ground forces.
In recent days, Syrskyi has been providing regular updates to President Volodymyr Zelensky on the status of the forces and the pace of their advance in Kursk.
Syrskyi was appointed in February after Zelensky dismissed his predecessor, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who had become one of Ukraine's most popular figures but was removed following the failure of the summer 2023 counteroffensive.
Zaluzhnyi was subsequently appointed as Ukraine’s ambassador to London, while Syrskyi took on the challenging role at a time when momentum along the front lines was largely in Russia’s favor.
Russia had a clear advantage in resources and manpower, while the Ukrainian military was primarily focused on defending against Russian advances that threatened to breach their defensive lines.
Syrskyi, known as a tough and daring commander, has earned the unflattering nicknames "The Butcher" and "General 200" from his soldiers—"200" referring to the code for battlefield fatalities in Ukrainian military communications.
Ukrainian soldiers take over natural gas facility in Russia's Kursk
(Video: Reuters)
After his appointment as chief of general staff, Ukrainian soldiers told Politico that those on the front lines view him as a "ruthless, Soviet-style general" willing to sacrifice his troops for objectives that may be unattainable.
Syrskyi’s background helps explain his approach. Born in 1965 in Vladimir, Russia—then part of the Soviet Union, like Ukraine, where he has lived since the 1980s—he graduated from the Moscow Higher Military Command School in 1986 and served for five years in the Soviet artillery before the USSR’s collapse. Afterward, he chose to remain in newly independent Ukraine, joining the National Guard and later transitioning to the army, where he rose to the top.
Syrskyi’s Soviet background informs some of the tactics he employs in the war against Russia, whose military and methods he knows well. He led the successful defense of Kyiv at the start of the invasion and the rapid counteroffensive in Kharkiv in the fall of 2022 as commander of Ukraine’s ground forces.
Now, after months of focusing on defense, Syrskyi has once again managed to surprise the Russian military with a bold offensive, this time on Russian soil, a territory he knows intimately.
It is still too early to determine whether the operation will achieve its objectives, but Syrskyi has undoubtedly shifted the momentum and dealt a significant blow to Russia, particularly in terms of perception.