Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrsky stated that he viewed his relationship with former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov as a working one and was unaware of the conflict. He also apologized "if I had offended him in any way."
"It was a surprise to me to learn that the minister and I had a conflict. I perceived our relationship as a working one: with complex issues, with differing positions. That's how it should be between two institutions during a major war. If I offended anyone in any way, Mykhailo Albertovych, forgive me. I can be harsh. But I ask you and everyone who is now following this story with fascination: let's focus not on the personal, but on the global. On victory," Syrsky wrote in a column posted on the Militarny website.
According to the commander-in-chief, reducing the war to a confrontation between two personalities is the greatest service to the enemy.
"There's a thought that's more important than any names: Ukraine is bigger than Fedorov, Syrsky, or any of us. Ukraine will endure not because it has irreplaceable people, but because it has an army, institutions, and millions of people doing their job. Reducing this war to a confrontation between two personalities is the greatest service we can render the enemy. And this applies not only to Mr. Fedorov and me. I see how people are divided into the 'Fedorov camp' and the 'Syrsky camp,'" Syrsky noted.
The general added, "as soon as an issue related to war or the army is politicized, it's reduced to a slogan," and "slogans don't make decisions that affect people's lives."
"And each of the issues currently being debated online—contracts, procurement, mobilization—is far more complex than any post about it. Slogans don't make decisions that affect people's lives," the commander-in-chief declared.
