Over half of Ukrainians supported Syrskyi's dismissal as commander-in-chief, poll finds

According to a survey conducted in July, 55% of Ukrainians supported the dismissal of Oleksandr Syrskyi, then commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Source: a survey by Rating Group on current socio-political issues, conducted on 20-21 July

Details: The pollsters noted that the survey had been completed before media reports emerged about Syrskyi's dismissal as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to the survey, 55% of respondents supported Syrskyi's dismissal, while 15% opposed it.

Another 19% said they were indifferent to the issue, while the remaining 11% chose the option "difficult to answer".

Meanwhile, 72% of Ukrainians opposed the dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov as defence minister, while 5% supported it. Another 17% said they were indifferent, and 6% selected "difficult to answer".

For reference: The survey was conducted on 20-21 July 2026 using the CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviewing) method.

A total of 1,000 respondents aged 18 and over were surveyed across all regions of Ukraine except the temporarily occupied territories and areas where Ukrainian mobile communication was unavailable at the time of the survey.

The sample is representative by age, gender and type of settlement, with a margin of error of no more than 3.1% at a 95% confidence level.

Background:

• On 20 July, Syrskyi apologised to Fedorov and said he had not realised there was a conflict between them.
• Following six days of protests, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced his decision to dismiss Syrskyi as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and appoint Mykhailo Drapatyi to replace him.
• The president also said he had offered Fedorov a "worthy leadership position". According to Ukrainska Pravda, one of the posts Zelenskyy proposed was deputy prime minister for technology.

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