Mykhailo Drapatyi appointment puts trusted commander atop Ukraine army
Zelenskyy named Mykhailo Drapatyi Ukraine’s top commander as Kyiv faces military strains and political anger over a defence shake-up.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Mykhailo Drapatyi’s appointment places a battlefield commander with strong support inside Ukraine’s military at the head of the armed forces. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named Drapatyi to the post on Tuesday, Al Jazeera reported, amid pressure on Kyiv over the war’s direction and unrest after a separate defence shake-up.
Drapatyi, now 43, became widely known in Ukraine in 2014 during fighting in Mariupol, when he drove an armoured vehicle through a separatist barricade during an operation to help free police officers held in an Interior Ministry building, according to Al Jazeera. Weeks later, he led his unit out of an encirclement by Russia-backed separatists with the loss of one soldier, the report said.
Zelenskyy said he and Drapatyi shared “the same wish, a victory over the enemy.” Drapatyi has since commanded Ukraine’s land forces and joint forces, and in early 2022 helped halt Russia’s push toward Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s hometown, according to Al Jazeera.
Can Mykhailo Drapatyi change the war?
Analysts cited by Al Jazeera said any shift may take time and will depend on Ukraine’s mobilisation effort, new technology and Russia’s moves. Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher at Germany’s Bremen University who studies the Russia-Ukraine war, said the result should be judged by the end of the year.
The Kremlin dismissed the appointment. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that he did not expect changes on the front lines and claimed Russian forces were advancing across the line of contact.
Drapatyi replaces Oleksandr Syrskii, the four-star general credited with helping stop Russia’s attempt to seize Kyiv in 2022 and with later successes in the Kharkiv region, according to Al Jazeera. Syrskii also ordered Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, the report said.
Syrskii’s Soviet-era military education and reputation for accepting heavy losses made him feared as well as respected among soldiers, Al Jazeera reported. Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, a former deputy head of Ukraine’s General Staff, told Al Jazeera that Drapatyi is trusted by those who served with him and is seen as a commander who cares about troops while taking measured risks.
What problem does the appointment leave unresolved?
Romanenko said Drapatyi’s rise does not fix a structural conflict between Ukraine’s General Staff, which reports to the Defence Ministry, and the ministry itself. He told Al Jazeera the arrangement comes from the Soviet system and will remain until Ukraine completes reforms based on NATO standards.
The command change follows Zelenskyy’s dismissal last week of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, a civilian official associated with Ukraine’s drone and technology programmes. Al Jazeera reported that Fedorov’s removal followed clashes with Syrskii and set off daily protests in Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities.
Romanenko told Al Jazeera the dismissal was largely personal and political, saying Zelenskyy viewed Fedorov as a possible postwar rival. Fedorov later declined an offer to become a presidential adviser on military technology reforms, according to the report.
Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta think tank, told Al Jazeera that Drapatyi’s appointment had eased some tensions but had not ended the dispute over Fedorov. Fedorov congratulated Drapatyi on Telegram, saying the appointment brought “a new wind and a new hope.”
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.