With large numbers of demonstrators directing their anger towards Gen. Syrskyi – seen by many as representing outdated Soviet-era military doctrines, Budanov, a former head of military intelligence, warned people “not to hate anyone”.
“The enemy is closely monitoring our every internal dispute and is waiting for us to start fighting among ourselves,” he wrote.
“The work is underway. There will be results.”
On Monday, the beleaguered but usually silent 60-year-old Gen Syrskyi hit back against his critics, publishing a long defence of his record and urging readers not to focus on his widely-reported rivalry with 35-year-old Mykhailo Fedorov.
Despite Zelensky’s claim last week that the two men could not even bear to sit in the same room, Syrskyi said it had been a surprise to learn that he had a conflict with the minister.
“I perceived our relationship as a working one,” he wrote in an op-ed for the Militarny website.