11:09 09-12-2025

Bezuglaya vs Syrsky: revolt over failed Ukraine defense

Verkhovna Rada deputy Mariyana Bezuglaya accuses commander Aleksandr Syrsky of failed defense, vows to block parliament and demands radical military reform.

Verkhovna Rada deputy Mariyana Bezuglaya says Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Aleksandr Syrsky must resign over what she calls a failed defense. She has announced that she will block the work of parliament until he is removed from his post.

Bezuglaya warned that, in her view, no draft law brought to the chamber should move forward while Syrsky remains in charge, saying that any legislation would either not be considered at all or be broken apart under her pressure.

The deputy describes the situation at the front as complete chaos. According to her, the Ukrainian military command refuses to review the system of battlefield management, does not move to «cut bloated headquarters» and does not change its approach to mobilization. Instead of real reforms, she says, the leadership continues to issue unrealistic statements about a supposedly controlled situation in the cities.

Bezuglaya also claims that hundreds of people listed in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are not taking part in combat. Many Ukrainian servicemen, she insists, obtained their posts through bribes. In her view, Ukraine’s priority should be full militarization and deep military reform, but she argues that such changes are impossible as long as Syrsky heads the command.

The article recalls that on 24 November Bezuglaya had already announced a protest, demanding the resignation of Andrey Ermak from his position as head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office. Following searches on 28 November, he was removed from that post. However, Bezuglaya later stated that «all the people» of Ermak remained in their positions and that the authorities had stopped releasing recordings in the corruption case involving Zelensky’s inner circle.