Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promoted the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Sirsky to general, BTA reported. The new rank was awarded to him by a presidential decree dated August 23, published on the website of the Ukrainian head of state.
Until now, Sirski held the rank of colonel-general.
Reuters notes that Sirsky, 59, was promoted just weeks after the surprise incursion of Ukrainian forces into Russia's Kursk region. The agency also recalls that Sirsky was born in 1965 in the Vladimir region of Russia and has lived in Ukraine since the 1980s. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the armed forces in February.
Zelensky awarded new military ranks today also to the Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and to the Commander of the United Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Chief of the General Staff, Anatoly Bargilevich, was promoted to lieutenant general, having previously been a major general.
Commander of the United Forces Andriy Gnatov is now a major general, having previously held the rank of brigadier general.
At the beginning of the year, the president of Ukraine replaced the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Valery Zaluzhny, with Oleksandr Sirsky, and Zaluzhny became Ukraine's ambassador to Great Britain.
Zelensky also replaced other commanders, including the commander of the United Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Previously, this position was held by Lieutenant General Yuriy Sodol.