Who is Mykhailo Drapatyi, Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief?

Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi, 43, has replaced Oleksandr Syrskyi as Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, becoming the third officer to hold the post since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. His appointment has been welcomed by many in both Ukraine’s military and civil society.

Born in 1982 in Kamianets-Podilskyi in western Ukraine, Drapatyi graduated from the Kharkiv Institute of Tank Troops in 2004 before joining the 72nd Mechanized Brigade.

He first gained national prominence in 2014, when Russia launched its military aggression in eastern Ukraine. As commander of the 2nd Mechanized Battalion of the 72nd Brigade, Drapatyi was deployed to the Donbas region, where his unit helped defend Mariupol.

On May 9, 2014, his battalion was ordered into Mariupol to reinforce Ukrainian forces after armed, pro-Russian militants attempted to seize the city’s police headquarters. During the operation, Drapatyi led an armored column through barricades erected by militants and their supporters. Video of his BMP infantry fighting vehicle smashing through one of the barricades quickly spread around the world, becoming one of the defining images of the early stages of the war.

Weeks later, Drapatyi led his battalion during one of the most difficult operations of the conflict. Ukrainian forces were tasked with securing sections of the border with Russia near Amvrosiivka, Zelenopillia and Marynivka to cut off supply routes to Russian-backed separatists. The troops soon came under intense artillery and multiple-launch rocket system fire from Russian territory while also facing attacks from separatist forces inside Ukraine.

Drapatyi led the withdrawal of elements of the 72nd Brigade from the Izvaryne and Chervonopartyzansk areas, helping break out of the encirclement. On August 4, 2014, about 260 soldiers and more than 30 military vehicles reached Ukrainian-held territory after a three-day breakout, losing only one soldier during the operation.

After the campaign, Drapatyi briefly attended the National Defense University of Ukraine before returning to active service as chief of staff of the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade. In August 2016, he was appointed commander of the 58th Separate Motorized Brigade, leading troops in the Avdiivka and Yasynuvata sectors of the Donetsk region.

He graduated from the National Defense University with a master’s degree in 2017, continued commanding the 58th Brigade in the Bakhmut area, and was promoted to colonel in 2019.

At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Drapatyi served as deputy commander of the Joint Forces for training. In March 2022, he became deputy commander of Operational Command South and took command of Tactical Group Kakhovka, later renamed Tactical Group Kryvyi Rih. Under his command, Ukrainian forces halted Russia’s advance toward Kryvyi Rih and later took part in the successful Kherson counteroffensive.

In February 2024, Drapatyi was appointed deputy chief of the General Staff responsible for military training. Nine months later, in November 2024, he became commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces.

He resigned from that post in June 2025 following a Russian missile strike on a military training ground in the Sumy region that killed Ukrainian servicemembers. After accepting responsibility, Drapatyi stepped down and was subsequently appointed commander of the Joint Forces.

In October 2025, he was placed in charge of the newly established Joint Forces Group, overseeing operations along the Kharkiv front.

Drapatyi’s battlefield experience, reputation for leading from the front, and record in both the 2014 war in Donbas and Russia’s full-scale invasion have made him one of Ukraine’s most respected senior commanders.