Zelenskyy has appointed Mykhailo Drapaty as the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed Major General Mykhailo Drapaty as the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The head of state announced this shortly before midnight on July 21, according to *Ukrainska Pravda*.
On July 22, Zelenskyy stated that, together with Drapaty and Acting Minister of Defense Yevhen Khmara, he had appointed Igor Skibyuk, the former commander of the Airborne Assault Forces, as Chief of the General Staff.
Mykhailo Drapatiy is a career military officer, a major general, and a recipient of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, he has commanded a battalion of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, which participated in the liberation of Mariupol. In 2014, under fire, Drapatiy led 260 fighters out of an encirclement near the Ukrainian-Russian border, the publication notes.
From 2016 to 2019, he led the 58th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade. At the start of the full-scale invasion by Russia, the aggressor state, Drapatiy served as deputy commander to Serhiy Naev of the Joint Forces and led the “South” task force, which halted the Russian army’s advance toward Kryvyi Rih. During the de-occupation of the right bank of the Kherson region, he commanded the “Kherson” military group.
In May 2024, Drapaty was appointed commander of the “Kharkiv” Operational-Tactical Group to stabilize the situation following the Russian offensive toward Lyptsi and Vovchansk. From November 2024 until early June 2025, he commanded the Ground Forces while simultaneously leading the “Khortytsia” Operational-Tactical Group, which was later renamed “Dnipro.”
Following a Russian strike on a Ground Forces training unit on June 1, 2025, Drapatiy submitted his resignation and took personal responsibility for the deaths of the soldiers. After speaking with the president, he announced that he would remain in service and subsequently took command of the Joint Forces Command.
Ihor Skybyuk is a 49-year-old major general who commanded the Airborne Assault Forces for about a year and a half. In particular, he held this position during the Defense Forces’ Kursk Offensive in the summer of 2024. Drapatiy stated that he has known Skibyuk since 2022, when they led the operation to liberate the Kherson region from a single command post.
According to “Ukrainska Pravda,” military officials expect the new leadership to ensure the army adapts more quickly to changes on the battlefield, to provide the anticipated replenishment of units, to reduce non-combat losses, and to revise approaches to troop management.
