Mykhailo Drapatyi

Mykhailo Vasyliovych Drapatyi (; born 21 November 1982) is a Ukrainian military officer who is the Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 3 June 2025. He served as commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces from 2024 to 2025.

Aside from his current role, he has held several notable commands including second battalion of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade during the 2014 Battle of Mariupol, the Zelenopillia rocket attack and the subsequent breakout, Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander of the 30th Mechanized Brigade, commander of the 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade and commander of several Operational-Strategic and Operational-Tactical groups.

He has also received several notable awards, including the full Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, the Cross of Military Merit and Hero of Ukraine.

Early life and education

Drapatyi was born in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, on 21 November 1982. After graduating from high school, he enrolled in the Kharkiv Institute of Tank Troops. He graduated in 2004, after which he began service as a Lieutenant in the 72nd Mechanized Brigade, which is based in Bila Tserkva, Kyiv Oblast.

Military career

His first command was as a Major, commander of second battalion, 72nd Mechanized Brigade. His battalion was deployed to eastern Ukraine in April 2014, taking part in the Battle of Mariupol in May that year. On 9 May, armed separatists attempted to seize the Mariupol police department. Drapatyi's battalion was sent with armoured vehicles to free hostages and reinforce the units that were defending the station. Leading from the head of a column of four armoured vehicles, his BMP crashed through a barricade. Videos of this were broadcast on international news.

In June that year, the first and second battalions were sent on a raid along the Russian border alongside the 3rd Special Forces Regiment, 24th Mechanized Brigade, 51st Guards Mechanized Brigade and the 79th Air Assault Brigade. They were tasked with cutting off the separatists from Russia. They travelled over 160 kilometres, taking control of several settlements, though were eventually encircled by both Russian and Donetsk People's Republic forces near Chervonopartyzansk, Luhansk Oblast, coming under BM-21 Grad and BM-27 Uragan rocket fire between 4–7 August.

To breakout, they had to pass through 40 kilometres of Russian territory without support and with unreliable communication. The first battalion surrendered, destroying their weapons and withdrawing across the nearby Russian border. Drapatyi led the remaining units to Zelenopillia, Donetsk Oblast, and on 7 August he led a breakout with the 260 soldiers and 30 pieces of military equipment that remained, lasting three days. The breakout was successful, allowing them to return to Ukrainian lines, losing one soldier in the process.

After his battalion was reconstituted, he became a Lieutenant Colonel, enrolling in the National Defense University of Ukraine in 2014 and, after graduating, became Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander of the 30th Mechanized Brigade.

He took command of the 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade on 17 October 2016. In June 2017, he received his Masters at the operational-tactical level and, in July, began directing their operations in the Joint Forces Operation zone around the Bakhmut highway. In April 2019 he became Colonel, later handing command over in August 2019 so that he could undertake the two-year operational-tactical and operational-strategic courses at the National Defence University. He graduated on 18 June 2021 as the top graduate, for which he was presented the Queen's Sword of the United Kingdom by then British Ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons.

He was then appointed as Deputy Commander of Operational Command North. Alongside this, he was appointed as Deputy Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for training in August 2021, later being promoted to Brigadier General on 6 December that year. On 17 March 2022, he was appointed as Deputy Commander of the Southern Command of the UGF, leading the Kakhovka Operational Group of Forces (OGF) from 15 June and the Kryvyi Rih OGF from 30 September. As a part of the latter, his forces stopped the offensive and counterattacked, advancing 6–23 kilometres and liberating several settlements in Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk Oblasts.

In 2023, he was appointed as commander of the Odesa Operational-Strategic Group. In this role, he increased the use of drones, electronic warfare and the coordination of said equipment. Some time prior to handing over command on 12 January 2024, he commanded the Kherson Special Operations Command. He was appointed as the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for training on 10 February 2024.

Following the commencement of Russia's Kharkiv Offensive on 10 May 2024, it was discovered that the soldiers under the Kharkiv Operational-Tactical Group were underprepared despite several prior indications that an offensive would happen. Drapatyi was selected to replace then commander of the group, Yuriy Halushkin, on 11 May, officially taking command the following day while remaining in his role as Deputy Chief of the General Staff. Coordination improved, allowing the situation to stabilise and preventing further advances by Russian forces, later leading to a Ukrainian advance in Lyptsi.

Drapatyi took command of the Luhansk Operational-Tactical Group between 5–10 September 2024, where he again improved the situation on the front line. He was later appointed as the Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces on 29 November 2024.

Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces

Drapatyi announced on 12 December 2024 that he would be conducting major reforms within the Ukrainian Ground Forces (UGF), including an updated recruitment system to eliminate corruption, improved training to better fit battlefield needs and the integration of advanced technology into training. He conducted an inspection over the UGF in January 2025, which intended to evaluate the management, processes and compliance with legislation of the UGF.

Of particular note were issues with the 155th Mechanized Brigade and the 156th Separate Mechanised Brigade. The 155th Mechanised Brigade, as of November 2024, had had approximately 1,700 soldiers desert, a third of its strength at the time. ''The Economist'' noted that "On its return the brigade was splintered: units and kit were hived off to other brigades, trained specialists were reassigned to infantry platoons, and desertions spiked as inexperienced units were sent to forward positions and took heavy losses."

A hotline for the unit was set up and several measures were implemented to improve it, such as increasing training, recruiting experienced officers and commanders and supplying the unit with further equipment. Similar issues were noted with the 156th Separate Mechanised Brigade and similar measures were implemented.

In addition to his duties as Commander of the UGF, on 26 January 2025 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Drapatyi as the commander of the Khortytsia Operational-Strategic Group, an area Zelenskyy described as "the most intense areas of combat."

On 1 June 2025, Drapatyi resigned as commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces following an attack on a training base that killed 12 soldiers and wounded 60 other soldiers. According to the Institute for the Study of War, Drapatyi stated that his reasons for resigning was due to being "unable to ensure the proper execution of his orders" and that "Ukraine's military is disadvantaged by a command culture that is unwilling to accept personal responsibility for and learn from battlefield failures." Drapatyi also stated that he must take responsibility and resign as his efforts to root out this attitude among the Ukrainian Ground Forces failed. On 3 June, he was appointed by Zelenskyy to become head of the Ukrainian military's Joint Forces Command.

Awards

Drapatyi received the full Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, receiving his first in August 2016, his second in 2018 and his third in July 2022. He has received other awards, including the Cross of Military Merit and the Firearms award of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Personal life

Drapatyi is married and has two children: a son and a daughter.

References

Notes

1982 births
Living people
Major generals of Ukraine
Recipients of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 1st class

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