٠٠:٠٠:٣٣The parents of newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi, who currently live in Russia's Vladimir, were filmed commenting on their son's new position on Sunday.
In response to a journalist asking whether Syrskyi had any reservations about working with the Ukrainian military, his father Stanislav Syrskyi claimed he knew nothing about it.
"I don't know how he works with them. I don't work with them," he replied.
The elderly man added that when he learned about his son's appointment, he felt 'the same thing that you felt' and suggested that journalists should turn to the AFU chief himself for comments.
Stanislav Syrskyi refused to answer any more questions.
In turn, the Ukrainian commander-in-chief's mother Lyudmila Syrskaya told the Russian journalists they should go to the front lines and defend 'our boys'.
"You should better go to the front line and defend our boys there, write about them. <…> Go and defend Russia!" she suggested.
On February 8, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the removal of his top army chief Valerii Zaluzhny following long-standing rumours of tensions over strategy, replacing him with the head of his land forces Oleksandr Syrskyi in the major shakeup.
According to Zelensky, 58-year-old Colonel-General Syrskyi had 'successful defence experience' in his role defending Kiev.
The same day, Mykhaylo Podolyak, an advisor to the head of the Ukrainian president's office, on his Telegram channel emphasised that Syrskyi's appointment stemmed from the need to 'revise last year's operational tactics, which did not fully ensure the proper outcome'. He went on to say that the AFU needed to come up with new solutions that would allow them to 'keep and develop the initiative' on the battlefield.
On February 9, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov said that the replacement of the AFU commander-in-chief would not 'change the course of the special military operation.'
According to media reports, EU spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Nabila Massrali said that Syrskyi's appointment was Ukraine’s 'internal decision'.
In November, Zelensky and Zaluzhny clashed after the former chief said that there would be 'no deep and beautiful breakthrough' in the latest counter-offensive without some big technological step forward, while Zelensky's team claimed the comments only benefited Moscow.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
'I don't know how he works with them' - Father of AFU’s new commander-in-chief Syrskyi *EXCLUSIVE*
The parents of newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi, who currently live in Russia's Vladimir, were filmed commenting on their son's new position on Sunday.
In response to a journalist asking whether Syrskyi had any reservations about working with the Ukrainian military, his father Stanislav Syrskyi claimed he knew nothing about it.
"I don't know how he works with them. I don't work with them," he replied.
The elderly man added that when he learned about his son's appointment, he felt 'the same thing that you felt' and suggested that journalists should turn to the AFU chief himself for comments.
Stanislav Syrskyi refused to answer any more questions.
In turn, the Ukrainian commander-in-chief's mother Lyudmila Syrskaya told the Russian journalists they should go to the front lines and defend 'our boys'.
"You should better go to the front line and defend our boys there, write about them. <…> Go and defend Russia!" she suggested.
On February 8, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the removal of his top army chief Valerii Zaluzhny following long-standing rumours of tensions over strategy, replacing him with the head of his land forces Oleksandr Syrskyi in the major shakeup.
According to Zelensky, 58-year-old Colonel-General Syrskyi had 'successful defence experience' in his role defending Kiev.
The same day, Mykhaylo Podolyak, an advisor to the head of the Ukrainian president's office, on his Telegram channel emphasised that Syrskyi's appointment stemmed from the need to 'revise last year's operational tactics, which did not fully ensure the proper outcome'. He went on to say that the AFU needed to come up with new solutions that would allow them to 'keep and develop the initiative' on the battlefield.
On February 9, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov said that the replacement of the AFU commander-in-chief would not 'change the course of the special military operation.'
According to media reports, EU spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Nabila Massrali said that Syrskyi's appointment was Ukraine’s 'internal decision'.
In November, Zelensky and Zaluzhny clashed after the former chief said that there would be 'no deep and beautiful breakthrough' in the latest counter-offensive without some big technological step forward, while Zelensky's team claimed the comments only benefited Moscow.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
The parents of newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi, who currently live in Russia's Vladimir, were filmed commenting on their son's new position on Sunday.
In response to a journalist asking whether Syrskyi had any reservations about working with the Ukrainian military, his father Stanislav Syrskyi claimed he knew nothing about it.
"I don't know how he works with them. I don't work with them," he replied.
The elderly man added that when he learned about his son's appointment, he felt 'the same thing that you felt' and suggested that journalists should turn to the AFU chief himself for comments.
Stanislav Syrskyi refused to answer any more questions.
In turn, the Ukrainian commander-in-chief's mother Lyudmila Syrskaya told the Russian journalists they should go to the front lines and defend 'our boys'.
"You should better go to the front line and defend our boys there, write about them. <…> Go and defend Russia!" she suggested.
On February 8, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the removal of his top army chief Valerii Zaluzhny following long-standing rumours of tensions over strategy, replacing him with the head of his land forces Oleksandr Syrskyi in the major shakeup.
According to Zelensky, 58-year-old Colonel-General Syrskyi had 'successful defence experience' in his role defending Kiev.
The same day, Mykhaylo Podolyak, an advisor to the head of the Ukrainian president's office, on his Telegram channel emphasised that Syrskyi's appointment stemmed from the need to 'revise last year's operational tactics, which did not fully ensure the proper outcome'. He went on to say that the AFU needed to come up with new solutions that would allow them to 'keep and develop the initiative' on the battlefield.
On February 9, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov said that the replacement of the AFU commander-in-chief would not 'change the course of the special military operation.'
According to media reports, EU spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Nabila Massrali said that Syrskyi's appointment was Ukraine’s 'internal decision'.
In November, Zelensky and Zaluzhny clashed after the former chief said that there would be 'no deep and beautiful breakthrough' in the latest counter-offensive without some big technological step forward, while Zelensky's team claimed the comments only benefited Moscow.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.