Major General Mykhailo Drapati was appointed late yesterday evening as the new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, after President Volodymyr Zelensky undertook changes to the country's military strategy in the war with Russia, which has already entered its fifth year, BTA writes, citing "Reuters".
The 43-year-old Drapati replaces the 60-year-old General Oleksandr Syrsky, who was dismissed from his post by Zelensky after several days of protests in a number of Ukrainian cities against the dismissal of the popular Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who had conflicts with Syrsky.
Drapati - a new military generation
Drapati previously commanded the United Forces of Ukraine, which directs daily combat operations across all branches of the armed forces and in all directions, including the northeast. Drapati is described by his colleagues as a new-generation general whose career was built on fighting Russian troops.
Drapati has worked his way up from a lieutenant in the tank troops to one of Ukraine's most effective commanders in his 26 years in the army. Last week, in a rare public statement, Drapati said that the Ukrainian army needed changes and new rules.
„I believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine – "an army capable of learning, developing technology, protecting people and enabling commanders to take responsibility for results," he wrote on Facebook in a post supporting ousted Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov.
„The Flying Armored Vehicle“
Drapati has been fighting against Russian forces in Ukraine for more than a decade. He rose to prominence in 2014 during the fighting in Donbass, when he gave the command „Forward!“ to the driver of an armored fighting vehicle in Mariupol and broke through a Russian barricade during an operation to rescue besieged police officers. That same year, he commanded a surrounded unit that managed to break through Russian-controlled territory and reach safety. At the time, the unit consisted of 260 soldiers and 30 pieces of military equipment. They escape the Russian siege overnight, after weeks of Russian encirclement.
After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Drapati became the preferred commander for the most critical sections of the front, where a rapid change of situation was needed.
In the summer of 2024, he became the commander of the forces that stopped the Russian advance on Zelensky’s hometown of Krivoy Rog and helped push the Russian military out of parts of the Kherson region. He then organized the repulsion of a new Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region. He was then appointed the youngest commander in history of the Ukrainian ground forces – one of the highest posts in the Ukrainian army.
Reforms and resignation
As commander of the ground forces, Drapati sought to implement reforms, modernizing the systems for recruiting and training personnel. He stated that he wanted to encourage initiative and flexibility among soldiers at the front, seeing this as an advantage over the approach of some generals trained on the Soviet model.
However, his tenure in this position was short. After Russia launched an attack on an army training center in June 2025, which killed at least 12 Ukrainian servicemen and wounded dozens, Drapati resigned, stating that he bore personal responsibility for the tragedy. “An army in which commanders bear personal responsibility for people's lives is a living force. "An army in which no one is responsible for the casualties dies from within," he said.
His resignation came as a surprise in Ukraine. Shortly afterwards, he was appointed to a lower-ranking, but more directly combat-related post – commander of the Joint Forces.
Early years
Mykhailo Drapati was born in 1982 in Kamianets-Podilskyi, in western Ukraine. In 2004, he graduated from the Kharkiv Institute of Tank Troops and began his service as a lieutenant in the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade in the Kiev region. He is married and has a son and a daughter.
Conclusions from the personnel change
The replacement of Oleksandr Syrsky with Mikhail Drapati is the first tangible change caused by protests against the removal of Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov, seen as a leading force in army modernization, the Associated Press notes. Syrsky is seen as the embodiment of the old army culture of command, influenced by the Soviet style, the AP points out.
On his new appointment, Drapati says that he grew up in the armed forces and will work in the new position responsibly with focus and respect for the people defending the country now.
Drapati is known as very disciplined and highly effective on the battlefield. He has often been sent on missions to stabilize the most critical sectors of the front.
He rarely appears in public, but despite this, he has earned respect and popularity due to his past victories on the front.
Drapati's uncompromising position was seen when the dismissed Fedorov stated that the Ukrainian military leadership had resisted the reforms planned by the ministry. Fedorov added that commanders who also insisted on reforms were punished by Syrsky. Fedorov said at the time that it was Drapati who received three reprimands in this regard from Syrsky. In response to these comments by Fedorov, Drapati expressed support for the leadership of the Ministry of Defense on social networks.