Who is Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief?

On Tuesday (July 21), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Zelenskyy wants him to develop a modern defense strategy and to continue the recently launched military reforms.  

This comes after an unexpected cabinet reshuffle last week. Many ministers have retained their posts under new Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi, but not former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who had a major argument with former commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi about the strategic direction that Ukraine’s war effort should take.

The firing of the popular defense minister sparked outrage among parts of Ukraine’s population. During mass protests, demonstrators not only demanded his return but also the dismissal of Syrskyi.

While the latter has now been removed from his post, Federov will not be returning. Zelenskyy has appointed Yevhen Khmara, who was previously head of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), as the new defense minister. 

‘The army needs changes’

Mykhailo Drapatyi was the only general who publicly defended Fedorov after his dismissal. He wrote on Facebook that Fedorov’s appointment to the defense ministry six months ago had been “a serious attempt to change conditions in the military system that were in place for years.”

He added that the Defense Ministry had developed into a true partner for the army: “Cooperation between the troops and the Defense Ministry changed. There was a new willingness to listen to commanders, to take decisions more quickly and to support changes that came from the units themselves.”

Drapatyj explained that many of the changes had had to be pushed through despite fierce resistance from the old system, and that there was a need to discuss problems in the army openly and honestly.

Who is Mykhailo Drapatyi?

Mykhailo Drapatyi (born in 1982) is a highly decorated Ukrainian major general who has distinguished himself as a battle-hardened frontline commander since 2014. At the beginning of the Donbas War, the trained tank trooper became known for his resolve during what was then called an “anti-terror operation.”

After Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, he coordinated — as deputy commander of the Ukrainian Joint Forces — the successful defense of the town of Kryvyi Rih as well as the liberation of strategically important areas in the south of the country.

Thanks to his reputation as a military crisis manager, who also stopped the Russian offensive near Kharkiv in 2024, he rose through the ranks of the general staff to become head of the ground forces of the Ukrainian army and eventually Commander of the Joint Forces.

Did Syrskyj want to eliminate a rival?

On June 1, 2025, Drapatyi handed in his resignation as army commander after a Russian missile strike targeting a training ground under his command killed at least 12 soldiers and injured more than 60 others.

On Facebook, he justified his decision, citing his “personal sense of accountability for this tragedy.” This earned Drapatyi a reputation for not hanging on to a position at all costs and taking moral responsibility. President Zelenskyy, however, did not accept the resignation and later appointed Drapatyi Commander of the Joint Forces.

However, when Drapatyi was tasked with defending the Kharkiv region in autumn 2025, observers remarked that this was a deliberate move to restrict his influence. Some media outlets speculated that Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi wanted to sideline the popular general as a potential rival.

A crisis of the president’s own making?

Observers point out that President Zelenskyy’s personnel decisions seem to have been driven by growing public pressure.

Military experts are divided when it comes to assessing the change of power. Oleksandr Khara of the Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies views the protests as an important democratic corrective in an era in which elections cannot take place. 

“The president listened to the response from civil society and the military and drew his conclusions. Society has succeeded in steering events back onto a democratic course,” he said.

Speaking to DW, Oleksiy Melnyk of the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center was more critical. While Zelenskyy had the right to make personnel decisions, he had nonetheless caused a major domestic political crisis that was completely unnecessary. 

“This will definitely not turn out to his advantage. It is regrettable that the president has learned nothing from previous lessons, because exactly one year ago there was a similarly triggered home-grown crisis,” he said.

This article was originally published in Ukrainian.