Zelenskyy appoints Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi, 43, as new commander-in-chief of Ukrainian Armed Forces

President Zelenskyy places his hopes in the new army chief Mykhailo Drapatyi. However, he is considered a supporter of the hated defense minister.

Published: 23 July 2026, 19:29

Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Office / ap / dpa

By Barbara Oertel

In one respect, Mykhailo Drapatyi is already a man of superlatives in Ukraine: at 43, the major general is the youngest commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the country's recent history. Last Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Drapatyi to this post, after his predecessor Oleksandr Syrskyi – to whom Drapatyi owes three reprimands – could no longer be retained under the pressure of protests.

Drapatyi's future task is unlikely to be easy. But he is accustomed to dealing with major challenges. "Drapatyi is described as a firefighter or crisis manager. Wherever it was difficult, Drapatyi was on hand," the Ukrainian news portal Novoye Vremya quotes Aleksandr Wdovichenko, a military serviceman.

Background and Early Career

Drapatyi was born in Kamianets-Podilskyi – a city in the western Ukrainian region of Khmelnytskyi. In 2004, he graduated from the Kharkiv Institute of Tank Troops. From 2014, when Moscow's war against Kyiv began, Drapatyi was deployed in eastern Ukraine.

On May 9, 2014, he organized a breakthrough of Ukrainian troops into the center of Mariupol, which at that time was held by pro-Russian fighters. A video shows Drapatyi's armored personnel carrier breaking through a barricade in the middle of the street. This video went around the world, as Drapatyi later recalled in an interview with the Armija FM broadcaster.

Active at All Hotspots

Drapatyi was involved in the liberation of Kherson and commanded troop units in the Kharkiv area. At the head of the "Luhansk" unit, Drapatyi succeeded in September 2024 in stabilizing the military situation at a front section in the Donetsk region.

According to the Ukrainian medium Babel, one reason for this is that Drapatyi took action against the practice of knowingly transmitting false information to the leadership level. "He convened meetings where he asked for an honest situation report and assured that no punishments or internal investigations would follow," a report states.

Resignation Attempt and Continued Promotion

Drapatyi made headlines in the summer of 2025. During a Russian attack on a training ground in the Dnipropetrovsk region, 12 soldiers were killed and more than 60 injured. Drapatyi submitted his resignation.

As justification, he said this was a deliberate step. He felt a personal sense of responsibility for the tragedy in which Ukrainian soldiers were killed. President Zelenskyy studiously ignored this decision – and instead moved the married father of a son and a daughter up another rung on the military career ladder.

Supporter of the Dismissed Defense Minister

Incidentally, Drapatyi is one of the few high-ranking military officials who openly speak out in favor of former Defense Minister Fedorov. Zelenskyy ousted Fedorov as part of a government reshuffle last week. Should this decision be reversed, the two are likely to work well together.

Challenges Ahead

Many challenges await Drapatyi. For instance, the question of how new soldiers can be recruited. TV presenter Serhiy Prytula dampens high expectations. The problem of mobilization cannot be solved with a magic wand; changes in the chain of command will take time. And this very time could work against the new commander-in-chief.

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