Command Change in Ukraine’s 159th Mechanized Brigade

There has been a change of command in Ukraine’s 159th Mechanized Brigade, which was formed two years ago on March 12, 2024. Colonel Oleksandr Demchuk, the brigade’s first commander who played a key role in its formation, has been dismissed from his position. Demchuk continues to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a different role.

He has been succeeded by Colonel Serhiy Smolyak. Smolyak is a graduate of the National Army Academy of the Ground Forces and has participated in the war in Donbas since 2014, serving with the 25th Airborne Brigade.

In 2019, he commanded a consolidated company tactical group of the brigade during the multinational exercise Saber Guardian. In 2021, he received the transitional saber of the era of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, awarded to the best graduate of the operational-tactical level program at the Ivan Chernyakhovskyi National Defense University of Ukraine.

In 2024, Smolyak was appointed commander of the 31st Mechanized Brigade, a position he held until September 2025.