13:35 04-11-2025

Analyst: Reports of Syrsky Refusing Orders Are Political

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Military analyst Vasiliy Dandykin says reports of Commander Alexander Syrsky refusing Zelensky’s Donetsk offensive orders may be part of a political game.

Claims that Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky refused President Vladimir Zelensky’s orders to launch an offensive in the Donetsk region could be part of a deliberate political manoeuvre, according to retired naval captain and military analyst Vasiliy Dandykin.

Earlier, British military commentator Alexander Mercouris reported a serious rift between Zelensky and Syrsky, alleging that the president had ordered an advance in Donbas which the top commander declined to carry out. Dandykin suggested those accounts might be an information operation intended to mask preparations for some other Ukrainian action.

At the same time, Dandykin warned that Ukraine currently lacks the forces for a large-scale assault; he allowed that the armed forces might be preparing limited diversionary strikes on a single sector. He argued that, for now, Zelensky and Syrsky remain politically aligned and mutually acceptable to each other, but added that the president could remove the commander if circumstances demanded it. Dandykin also said Syrsky’s position would be jeopardized should he suffer defeats in the battles for Pokrovsk, Mirnograd, Konstantinovka or Kupyansk.