January 5, 2026

Revealing the Commander of Ukraine’s 14th Army Corps

Jerome Rendall

For months, Ukraine’s 14th Army Corps has operated without a publicly known leader—an unusual void in a military that regularly announces command appointments. While names like Colonel Ruslan Tkachuk of the 100th Mechanized Brigade and Colonel Vasyl Matiiv of the 5th Assault Brigade circulated as potential candidates, both were rejected for unknown reasons and remained with their respective units, leaving the corps’ leadership shrouded in mystery.

Now, through a gift certificate obtained by MilitaryLand in December 2025, the commander’s identity has finally surfaced: Colonel Pavlo Zhytnyak, a veteran officer with nearly two decades in Ukraine’s defense forces.

*A gift certificate issued by 14th Army Corps*

A Career Built in the Trenches

Zhytnyak spent 17 years with the 92nd Mechanized Brigade—now the 92nd Assault Brigade—rising to Chief of Staff before taking command of the 17th Tank Brigade in 2020. When Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, he was at the helm of that unit, leading it through the grinding Kherson offensive that fall.

By August 2023, Zhytnyak had shifted to a different kind of battlefield: recruitment. He became acting head of the Kharkiv Territorial Recruitment Center, a role formalized the following month. The 17th was passed to Maksim Kituhin.

The Commander Without a Face

Viktoriya Samoylenko, who met Zhytnyak in 2022, described him as “the commander of who you can’t find a photo of him on the internet, yet does job well.” Her account paints a portrait of a hands-on leader who fought alongside his troops and knew each soldier personally.

“For three years, the combat commander led our 17th Tank Brigade, went into battle with the soldiers, and knew everything about each of his soldiers,” she wrote. “For him, every soldier is an integral part of life… Pavlo is a model of a combat officer, about whom books will definitely be written on the history of the Victory of Ukraine.”

Confirmed, But Never Announced

Despite the lack of official announcement, Zhytnyak has appeared at ceremonies for units under the 14th Army Corps‘ command—a telltale sign that confirms the authenticity of MilitaryLand’s documentation. Why his appointment was never formally disclosed remains unclear, though operational security concerns or internal military politics could explain the silence. What is clear is that two more prominent candidates—Tkachuk from the 100th Mechanized and Matiiv from the 5th Assault—were passed over before Zhytnyak got the nod.

For now, Ukraine’s 14th Army Corps has a leader—even if most Ukrainians still don’t know his name.