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Western officials and military experts have warned that without U.S. assistance, a cascading collapse along the front is a real possibility later this year.<\/p>\n
It would still be at least a couple of months before the lack of renewed aid has a widespread impact, they say. But without it, they add, it\u2019s hard to see how Ukraine will be able to maintain its current positions on the battlefield.<\/p>\n
By next month, Ukraine could struggle to conduct local counterattacks, and by early summer, its military might have difficulty rebuffing Russian assaults, the officials and analysts say.<\/p>\n
However, officials also assess that Russia would struggle to quickly build enough capability to conduct a major offensive across eastern Ukraine. Instead, the Russian forces would most likely move forward in a clumsy disjointed way but with a high threshold for casualties among their own troops.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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On Friday, the Kremlin dismissed the Ukrainian leadership change as inconsequential. \u201cWe don\u2019t believe this is a factor that can change the course of the special military operation,\u201d Mr. Putin\u2019s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, told journalists, using Moscow\u2019s phrase for the war. \u201cIt will continue until all of its goals are achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Still, Ukraine has managed to fend off doomsday scenarios in the past, most notably when it drove Russian forces from Kyiv in the first months of the war.<\/p>\n
In his first public comments since his appointment, General Syrsky said on Friday that his immediate priority would be \u201cthe fastest and most rational distribution and delivery of everything necessary for combat units\u201d to counter Russian assaults.<\/p>\n
He vowed to put troops\u2019 \u201clives and health\u201d at the forefront of battlefield decisions, working to maintain \u201ca balance between fulfilling combat missions and restoring units.\u201d<\/p>\n
With his comments, General Syrsky may have been responding to critics who say that he has been too willing to sacrifice soldiers to achieve questionable military goals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In announcing the overhaul on Thursday, Mr. Zelensky also spoke of the need to address the needs of soldiers in the cauldron of battle. While there are almost a million people in the military, Mr. Zelensky said, \u201cthe majority of them have not felt the front line in the same way as the minority who are actually at the forefront, actually fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means that we need a different approach to rotations in particular,\u201d he said. \u201cA different approach to frontline management. A different approach to mobilization and recruitment. All this will give more respect to the soldier. And restore clarity to actions in the war.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But Mr. Zelensky offered little detail about how the overhauled leadership would meet his goals, and he did not explain where the previous commander\u2019s team had fallen short.<\/p>\n
Mr. Zelensky\u2019s critics say that he has avoided making politically unpopular decisions and that he has failed to address the challenges surrounding efforts to overhaul and reinvigorate the mobilization process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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General Syrsky is something of divisive figure within the military, viewed by some as too close to the Zelensky team to challenge misguided political decisions.<\/p>\n
But he is intimately familiar with the often byzantine bureaucracy of the Ukrainian armed forces, and he has participated in most of the important command decisions during the war.<\/p>\n
He will now have to expand his field of vision from the bloody battles in eastern Ukraine to a sprawling war being fought on land, air and sea. He has long experience commanding conventional forces, but unconventional warfare will take on an increasingly important role as Ukraine seeks to make up for its disadvantages by waging an asymmetric campaign \u2014 including striking inside Russia.<\/p>\n
Beyond the tactical and strategic decisions, General Syrsky must also maintain morale among the troops during one of the most trying moments of the war. That includes winning over soldiers who liked and respected his predecessor, General Zaluzhny.<\/p>\n
General Zaluzhny is widely regarded as a heroic figure who helped save his country in its darkest hour and earned a reputation for compassion even as he made difficult choices. On Friday, Mr. Zelensky awarded the general the title Hero of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Oleksandr, a 27-year-old soldier fighting on the front who, like others in this article, asked to be identified by only his first name in line with military policy, said, \u201cIn the million-strong army, there are and will be problems, countless problems, but here we are talking about trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGeneral Zaluzhny has had \u2014 and continues to have \u2014 unquestionable authority and trust from both the military and society,\u201d Oleksandr added. \u201cThe president did not clearly explain to society the reasons for General Zaluzhny\u2019s resignation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n