Mykhailo Drapatyi Appointed New Commander-in-Chief of Ukrainian Armed Forces

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy broke his silence late on July 21, announcing that Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi would be the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Drapatyi was among five final candidates, including Oleg Apostol, Andriy Biletskyi, Denys Prokopenko, and Ihor Obolenskyi.

At 43, Drapatyi is a career military officer, a Major General, and a recipient of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. Soldiers and commanders describe him as humane, balanced, quick to make decisions, and equally grateful to both privates and generals. However, some critics view him as a product of the old school, predicting he will be "Zaluzhnyi 2.0" without transformative change.

Drapatyi began his service in the late 1990s, graduating from the Kharkiv Tank Institute. In 2014, he commanded a battalion of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade during the liberation of Mariupol, famously breaking through barricades in a BMP. That summer, he led 260 soldiers out of encirclement near Izvaryne, covering about 160 km under fire. From 2016 to 2019, he commanded the 58th Motorized Brigade near Avdiivka and Bakhmut.

During the full-scale invasion, Drapatyi first served as deputy commander of the Joint Forces, then led the "South" grouping, halting the Russian advance toward Kryvyi Rih. He later commanded the "Kherson" grouping during the deoccupation of the right bank. In May 2024, he took charge of the "Kharkiv" operational-tactical grouping to stabilize the front after the Russian offensive toward Lyptsi and Vovchansk. From November 2024 to June 2025, he served as commander of the Ground Forces and oversaw the "Khortytsia" (later "Dnipro") operational-strategic grouping.

His tenure was marked by two deadly Russian strikes on training grounds. After the second incident in June 2025, Drapatyi submitted his resignation but remained in post after talking to the president. Tensions with former Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi escalated—Syrskyi ordered eight inspections and issued three reprimands against Drapatyi in six months. Syrskyi also disbanded the "Dnipro" grouping, halving Drapatyi's area of responsibility, which some saw as an attempt to eliminate a rival.

In autumn 2025, Drapatyi oversaw the recapture and clearance of Kupiansk, though credit for the operation is disputed. He publicly supported former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov in early July 2026, and Fedorov in turn advocated for Drapatyi's appointment as commander-in-chief.

The question of who will become the new Chief of the General Staff, the second-most important military position, remains open.