Expert: Ukraine's new army chief Drapaty won't reverse military setbacks

LUGANSK, July 24. /TASS/. No matter who Kiev puts in charge of its army, it will not be able to stem the tide in its fight against Russia, Alexander Protsenko, a political science PhD candidate, associate professor at Vladimir Dahl Lugansk State University’s Department of Public Administration and chairman of the LPR branch of the Russian Society of Political Scientists, told TASS, commenting on Mikhail Drapaty's appointment as Ukraine's commander-in-chief.

"As for me, I’m not sure that Drapaty, unlike the sacked Fyodorov (Ukraine’s former Defense Minister Mikhail Fyodorov - TASS), will become a new card in the Ukrainian electoral pack. But he could well play the role of a scapegoat. Everything depends on the Ukrainian armed forces’ performance under his command, and, given the current climate, Ukrainian troops will continue to retreat, and the collapse of the Ukrainian military machine is on the horizon. Kiev may change 'captains' on the slowly but surely sinking Titanic as often as it pleases, but it can’t reverse the course of events," the expert said.

On July 14, Mikhail Fyodorov was removed from the post of the Ukrainian defense minister, partly due to infighting with the commander-in-chief, Alexander Syrsky. On July 16, protest rallies against Fyodorov's dismissal started in Ukrainian cities. The protesters gradually began to demand not only the return of Fyodorov, but also the dismissal of Syrsky. On the sixth day of the protests, Zelensky announced firing Syrsky, and later - the appointment of Drapaty.