Zelensky appoints the new head of the army in line with public opinion

Kyiv. Late on Tuesday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted his usual evening video message, and Ukrainian social media erupted with joy. Zelenskyy announced that the new Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces would be Mykhailo Drapatyi, who will replace General Oleksandr Syrsky. “We all share a single desire: victory over the enemy and the creation of conditions on the front line and pressure on Russia that will force it to make peace,” the president said.

The appointment came against the backdrop of a political crisis that Zelensky himself had created when he decided, last week, to replace Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. After six days of protests, the president chose to accede to the demands of the public, and Syrsky’s resignation was one of the two main demands. Zelensky met with military commanders every day and finally made his choice: 43-year-old Mykhailo Drapatyi, commander of the Joint Forces, holder of the Cross of Military Merit and a Knight of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky. 

Drapatyi first made a name for himself at the very outset of the war. In late spring 2014, the city of Mariupol was under the control of pro-Russian separatists. On 9 May, an infantry fighting vehicle (BMP) from the 72nd Separate Mechanised Brigade, flying the Ukrainian flag, stormed into the city. In its path stood a roadblock: a one-metre-high barricade. On board the BMP was Mykhailo Drapatyi, commander of the Second Mechanised Battalion of the 72nd Brigade, and it was he who was directing all operations. The BMP leapt over the barricade and drove on. The video of that breakthrough, which went viral, became one of the symbols of Ukraine’s heroic resistance against the Russians. The soldiers of the 72nd Brigade thus managed to help their comrades escape the city and retreat to more favourable positions. Drapatyi was 31 years old at the time. And on 7 August 2014, he led 410 Ukrainian soldiers out of the encirclement in the village of Izvarine, in the Luhansk Oblast, saving both men and equipment. Subsequently, he continued to serve on the front line and undertook further training at the National Defence University.

In March 2022, when the large-scale invasion began, he halted the advance of Russian troops towards Krivyi Rih, the hometown of Volodymyr Zelensky. He subsequently took part in the liberation of several towns on the right bank of the Kherson Oblast. And in May 2024, he succeeded in stabilising the situation in the north of the Kharkiv Oblast, where the Russian army had attempted a breakthrough. Thanks to Drapatyi’s skilful command, the Russian army became bogged down in fighting at Vovchansk and was unable to advance any further. On 29 November 2024, Zelensky appointed him Commander of the Land Forces. However, on 1 June 2025, Drapatyi resigned following a Russian missile attack on a training ground where Ukrainian troops had gathered. Twelve people were killed and 60 were injured in the attack. “As commander, I failed to fully ensure that my orders were carried out,” Drapatyi stated, admitting that he had been unable to secure more careful treatment of the troops within the system. “This is my responsibility,” he wrote at the time. However, he did not leave the army, in which he has now served for 26 years, and continued to defend the country along the Kharkiv front.

Following the news of his appointment as commander-in-chief, many military personnel have publicly expressed their support for the president’s decision. “Respect and humanity in his eyes,” writes Drapatyi Artem Osypian, commander of an attack drone company in the Achilles Brigade. “He has a wealth of experience; he combines strength with a sensitivity that is unusual amongst senior officers,” he continues, listing his qualities. Drapatyi has received three official reprimands from Syrsky. One of these was for his close collaboration with the Ministry of Defence led by Fedorov. The former minister himself recounted this during a briefing on 16 July. Drapatyi, like Fedorov, supports the introduction of innovations and technologies at the front. Supporters of the new commander-in-chief are urging Ukrainians to remain calm and not to harbour excessive expectations. This is because the long-standing and complex issue of mobilisation cannot be resolved by a single appointment, just as immediate stabilisation of the front line cannot be achieved.

Despite the positive reaction to Drapatyi’s appointment, one issue remains unresolved for Zelensky: Mykhailo Fedorov. On 21 July, the president offered him a new post in the government, but according to Il Foglio, Fedorov is only willing to accept the post of defence minister. “I think they will continue to discuss it,” says Dmytro Litvin, an adviser to the president. The Ukrainians, for their part, are preparing to take to the streets again on 24 July if Zelensky does not reinstate Fedorov. And he, it seems, has no intention of doing so. Major General Yevhen Khmara, one of the architects of Operation Spider’s Web, was present at all the president’s meetings with the military, including his first meeting with the new commander-in-chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi. The government has appointed him acting Minister of Defence. This means that, for Zelensky, the crisis is not yet over.