The media showed the house where Syrskyi's parents and brother live in Russia: neighbors told about them

Neighbors of the parents of the recently appointed commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, in Russia, believe that the elderly couple is "ashamed" of their son. The Russians are also convinced that the commander-in-chief, who considers Kharkiv his hometown and whose entire military service is connected to Ukraine, "chose the wrong side."

Journalists of the Russian publication Novoe Vremya talked to Russians who are convinced that the path of an occupier and traitor is more worthy than the path of a defender who is loyal to the country he considers his homeland. Radio Liberty summarized the results of the conversation.

Novoye Vremya journalists went to the village of Novyky, Vladimir region, where Alexander Syrsky's mother was registered. The place where the grandmother of the Armed Forces chief once stood is now inhabited by other people who, upon seeing the journalists, ran away, throwing over their shoulders that they "just live here, run their household, and that's it" and that they "have no idea" about any Syrskyis.

Instead, the family lived 5 km from the village, in the military garrison "Kosterevo-1": Stanislav Syrskyi's father, who was a career soldier in the Soviet army, served there.

At one time, this military town was classified. In the USSR, the Central Officers' Red Banner Courses of Anti-Aircraft Missile Forces were located there. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and until 2007, it was the Training Center for Air Force Anti-Aircraft Missile Troops.

Today, Kosterevo-1 is considered a defunct military camp, but journalists have noticed many military vehicles and people camouflaged in civilian cars there. The school where Oleksandr Syrskyi started his studies was recently named after one of the occupiers, who was eliminated at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Journalists told us that in 1970 Stanislav Syrskyiwas sent to serve in Ukraine, and he took his family with him. So Oleksandr Syrskyi finished school in Kharkiv. He considers this city his hometown.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces chief's brother, who is now 50 years old, and their parents, who have already crossed the 80-year mark, live in a residential area of the city of Volodymyr, in a simple panel house. Oleksandr Syrskyi's younger brother works as a security guard at a local supermarket.

When asked about the Syrsky family by journalists, neighbors mostly brushed them off, assuring them that they knew them superficially and only greeted them when they met.

"They are wonderful people! Stanislav Prokopovich is a man in general. He is a lieutenant colonel in the Russian army. I'm sick of old people," one of the neighbors said.

However, the residents of Volodymyr were much more willing to talk about Oleksandr Syrskyi himself.

"There are many countrymen everywhere. They find themselves on both sides, it's hard to say anything", "It's bad, his parents must be ashamed", "Everyone makes their own choice. He chose a bad position," said the residents of the city with whom the journalists spoke.

Radio Svoboda reminded that Oleksandr Syrsky'is brother admitted that he does not keep in touch with his family in Russia. According to Russian media reports, his parents learned about his appointment only from the news.

Oleksandr Syrskyi himself spent his entire military career in Ukraine. Until 2014, he headed the Armed Forces of Ukraine's cooperation with NATO and participated in the defense of Ukraine against hybrid Russian aggression, in particular, he was one of the commanders of the Debaltseve operation.

When his former homeland launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Syrskyi joined the fight to repel the aggression. His name is associated with the defense of Kyiv, Bakhmut, and the Kupiansk direction, as well as with the operation to liberate the Kharkiv region from the invaders in 2022.

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