Ukraine's new top commander seeks to overhaul Soviet-era command system

Ukraine's newly appointed top military commander has begun pushing for changes to the country's command structure, a system inherited from the Soviet era. The effort is unfolding in the middle of an ongoing war rather than during peacetime, making the reform both more difficult and more urgent.

The inherited model

Under the system Ukraine inherited, officers held decision-making authority over virtually everything within military units. Sergeants, meanwhile, were treated simply as senior soldiers — they had no separate career track or ladder of advancement distinct from the rank-and-file, and consequently held little formal authority of their own.

The proposed shift

The new top commander wants to change this dynamic by granting genuine authority to sergeants who have combat experience. The underlying reasoning is that soldiers who have actually fought on the front lines are capable of making sound decisions and taking on responsibility, rather than depending solely on directives from officers above them.

Context

Reforms of this kind — restructuring how authority flows through a military's chain of command — are typically viewed as long-term undertakings. In Ukraine's case, however, the change is being pursued while the war continues, meaning the new approach must be implemented alongside active combat operations rather than after they conclude.

Further details on the specific steps of the reform or its implementation timeline are not yet available.