Oleksandr Syrskyi he filled his chest with air and, bearing the weight of his uniform, he paused in his speech and let out a sigh. “Today… we officially complete the clean-up operation of this city,” said the colonel-general of the ground armed forces in Balakliia.leading the Ukrainian counteroffensive which is stated as a possible turning point in the war. Although that sigh transmitted weariness, revealing the hardness of the mission, Syrskyi assured: “This won’t be the last city we liberate“. And she wasn’t.
The footage was taken at the end of the week in Balakliia, the first major city to be retaken from the Russians. Two more followed this Saturday: Izium and Kupiansk, cities from which the Russians withdrew, practically without resistance, alleging that it is a “regrouping” of forces -despite the fact that they are cities for which Russia had sacrificed long days and hours. combat resources (military and equipment).
The city of Balakliya, Kharkiv region, is liberated by Ukrainian troops!
Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Hero of Ukraine, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi is leading the Ukrainian offensive in this sector.
The Ukrainian flag has been raised in the center of the city. pic.twitter.com/zQ8ngDitZw— Ukraine Defense (@DefenceU) September 10, 2022
The colonel general who was given the mission to be the “driver” of the operation, on the ground, is 57 years old and has been in the Ukrainian armed forces since 1990 (commander of the ground armed forces since 2019).
Before the war in Donbass (2014), he led the 72nd Mechanized Brigade of Ukraine and was promoted to Major General, a position that directly involved him in cooperation processes with NATO. Since November 2013 it was Syrskyi who negotiated directly with NATO, on behalf of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, a set of changes that were made in the army, in accordance with the standards of the transatlantic organization.
Meet Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. He leads the Ukrainian offensive in the Kharkiv-Izyum operation. He was named Hero of Ukraine in April 2022. He should now be Hero of the Free World. pic.twitter.com/7bSEqeoZDo
— Eerik N Kross (@EerikNKross) September 10, 2022
A few years later, in 2015, Syrskyi had already been appointed head of anti-terrorist operations in Ukraine and it was at the beginning of that year that he was at the center of operations in the Battle of Debaltseve (Donetsk), a confrontation between Russian separatists and the Ukrainian armed forces, in the so-called Donbass War.
There he led the fighting at Vuhlehirsk and Ridkodub. Although he failed to recapture Separatist-controlled Logninov, Syrskyi was instrumental in the battle because it was under his leadership that possible access routes across the Karapulka River were cut off.
Thanks to this role in the Battle of Debaltseve, he received the honor of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky III. He was later promoted to lieutenant general and continued to rise through the military ranks until he became the commander of the Ukrainian infantry. He is now tasked with leading the counteroffensive that could dictate the next phase of the invasion of Ukraine.
Source: Observadora
