Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi appointed as new commander of Ukraine’s land forces

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi appointed Major General Mykhailo Drapaty as the new commander of Ukraine's land forces. Mykhailo Drapatyi will replace Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk and will resign from the post of Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi successfully organized defense in the Kharkiv direction and disrupted the offensive operation of Russian forces," the President said, commenting on the personnel decision.

Zelenskyi emphasized that the Ukrainian army needed internal changes to fully achieve the state's goals. "The main task is to significantly increase the combat capability of our army, ensure the quality of training of servicemen and introduce innovative approaches to managing people in the Armed Forces of Ukraine," he wrote.

Mykhailo Drapatyi

Mykhailo Drapatyi participated in the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine. He began his combat career as the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade.

Under his command, the units of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade entered Mariupol in May 2014 on armored vehicles to reinforce the units that repelled the terrorists' assault. In the position of the IFV commander, he and his mechanic-driver Dmytro Vorona led a convoy of four vehicles and broke through the barricade of pro-Russian residents. It was their "flying IFV" that was captured in the footage that went viral.

In August 2016, Drapatyi was appointed commander of the 58th Motorized Brigade, which at that time was performing tasks in Avdiivka and the Yasynuvata district of the Donetsk region. In July 2017, he was in charge of the 58th Brigade's operations in the zone of the anti-terrorist operation near the Bakhmut road.

In August 2019, the 58th Brigade received a new commander. Drapatyi himself began a two-year course as a student at the Ivan Chernyakhovsky National Defense University of Ukraine. In February 2024, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

And in May 2024, he became the new commander of the Kharkiv operational and tactical group of troops, and later headed the Luhansk operational and tactical group.

In October of this year, Brigadier General Drapatyi was promoted to the rank of Major General by the President.

According to the 2020 military reform, brigadier general is the lowest general rank, followed by major general, lieutenant general, and the highest rank - general.