Mykhailo Vitaliyovych Zabrodskyi (; born 24 January 1973) is a Ukrainian politician and retired military officer. A member of the

European Solidarity European Solidarity (, ; , YeS) is a political party in Ukraine. It has its roots in a parliamentary group called Solidarity dating from 2000 and has existed since in various forms as a political outlet for Petro Poroshenko. The party with its the ...

party, he was elected to the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

(Ukraine's national parliament) in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, but renounced his

mandate Mandate most often refers to: * League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 * Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate Mandate may also r ...

in March 2023. Zabrodskyi is a former commander of the

Ukrainian Airmobile Forces The Air Assault Forces of Ukraine ( AAFU; , , ), known until 2017 as the Ukrainian Airmobile Forces, are the airborne forces of Ukraine. After the Dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, several Ukraine-based units from the Soviet Airborne Forc ...

, a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

, and a

Hero of Ukraine A Hero of Ukraine (HOU; ) is the highest national decoration that can be conferred upon an individual citizen by the president of Ukraine. The decoration was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma. As of 6 June 2025, the total number of re ...

. He commanded the 95th Airmobile Brigade during the

War in Donbass The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war began in April 2014, when Russian paramilitaries seized several towns. Ukraine's military launched an operation ...

, during which it conducted a 470-kilometer operation 170 kilometers into Russian and separatist-held territory.

Early life

Zabrodskyi was born on 24 January 1973 in

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

, the son of a military officer. In 1989 graduated from high school.

Early military career

From 1989 to 1994 he received military education in St. Petersburg - A.F. Mozhaysky Military-Space Academy, after which he served for five years in military service under a contract in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. After returning to Ukraine he began serving in the 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade as a platoon commander. In 2005–2006, he was a student at the

United States Army Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

. His impressions of the education he received were positive: In the 2014 summer, the 95th Brigade, commanded by Zabrodsky, carried out a raid in the enemy's rear. Within two weeks, performing combat missions, Zabrodskyi's crew passed 470 km from

Sloviansk Sloviansk is a city in Donetsk Oblast, northern part of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. The city was known as ''Tor'' until 1784. While it did not actually belong to the raion itself, Sloviansk served as the administrative center of the S ...

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

, then along the Russian-Ukrainian border, and through

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

returned to Sloviansk. According to American military expert Philip A. Karber, this was the longest raid of armed formation in recent history. According to Zabrodsky, the difference between Russian and American combat tactics is vast: On August 24, 2014, he commanded a combined parade battalion of ATO participants at Parade on Independence Day. On 1 August 2015, he was promoted to major general. Zabrodskyi was Commander of the Landing and Assault Troops from 2015 to 2019. In 2017 Zabrodskyi was First Deputy Head of the Anti-Terrorist Center at the

Security Service of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine ( ; abbreviated as SBU [] or SSU) is the main Internal security, internal security agency of the Government of Ukraine, Ukrainian government. Its main duties include counter-intelligence activity and combati ...

(SBU) and Head of the Antiterrorist Operation in

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

and

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...

. On 9 November 2017, Ukrainian President

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

announced on his Facebook page that Zabrodskyi was appointed to lead the antiterrorist forces (ATO). At the same time, during the course of one of the largest rotations in the

Anti-terrorist Operation Zone Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone (), or ATO zone (), was a term used by the media, public, the government of Ukraine, and the OSCE and other foreign institutions to identify Ukrainian territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (oblasts) under the c ...

(ATO Zone), several brigades of the Air Assault Forces, including the 25th Airborne and 79th Airborne Assault, entered the collision line. After being elected into parliament, Zabrodskyi was succeeded as commander of the Airborne Assault Troops in August 2019 by Major General

Yevhen Moisiuk Yevhen Heorhiyovych Moisiuk (; born October 7 1979) is a Ukrainian three-star general, served as the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine since February 7 2025. He served as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since ...

.Ukraine's Major General Moisiuk appointed Commander of Airborne Assault Troops

UNIAN The Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News () is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian news agency. It produces and provides political, business and financial information, and a photo reporting service. As of October 2022, it was the most v ...

(21 August 2019)

Political career

On 29 September 2015 Zabrodskyi was registered as the first candidate (leading the list) for a seat in the

Zhytomyr Oblast Council The Zhytomyr Oblast Council () is the regional oblast council (parliament) of the Zhytomyr Oblast (province) located in northern Ukraine. Council members are elected for five year terms. In order to gain representation in the council, a party m ...

, affiliated with the

Petro Poroshenko Bloc "Solidarity" European Solidarity (, ; , YeS) is a political party in Ukraine. It has its roots in a parliamentary group called Solidarity dating from 2000 and has existed since in various forms as a political outlet for Petro Poroshenko. The party with its the ...

. He was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population ch ...

to a five-year term as a deputy to the Seventh Convocation of the council on 25 October that year, and serves as a member of the standing committee on regulation, deputy activity, local government, legality, law enforcement, and anti-corruption activities. In the July

2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, the elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved parli ...

Zabrodskyi was placed fourth on the party list of

(the party formerly named Petro Poroshenko Bloc "Solidarity"), and was elected to the

. During his tenure as MVR he was the First Deputy Chairman of the parliament's National Security, Defense, and Intelligence Committee, and a member of the group for inter-parliamentary relations with the

Italian Republic Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Zabrodskyi renounced his parliamentary mandate in March 2023. On 17 March 2023 Zabrodskyi's request to vote for the termination of his mandate was registered in parliament. On 20 March 2023 parliament deprived him of his mandate. According to former (European Solidarity) parliamentary faction colleague Oleksiy Honcharenko Zabrodskyi would be returning to military service.

Later military career

In March 2023 Zabrodskyi was appointed Deputy to Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhny. On February 2024, Zabrodskyi was dismissed as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the

Armed Forces of Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

Personal life

Zabrodskyi speaks English fluently.

Awards

with the Order of the Golden Star (August 23, 2014) *

Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky The Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky () is a Ukrainian military award named after Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Hetman of the Ukrainian Cossacks. The award was established on May 3, 1995 by Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma to commemorate the 50th anniversar ...

3d class (October 21, 2014) *

Order of Danylo Halytsky The Order of Daniel of Galicia, Danylo Halytsky () is an award of Ukraine. The Order was instituted on February 20, 2003, by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to honour the military men of the Military of Ukraine, Armed Forces of Ukraine and other mi ...

(February 22, 2010)

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20140826114136/http://ukrgeroes.narod.ru/ZabrodskyMV.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20140826113616/http://www.president.gov.ua/news/31072.html * http://ukrpohliad.org/analytics/rejd-desantny-kiv-95-yi-bry-gady-po-ty-lah-voroga.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Zabrodskyi, Mykhailo 1973 births Military personnel from Dnipro Lieutenant generals of Ukraine Recipients of the title of Hero of Ukraine Living people Ukrainian military personnel of the war in Donbas Ninth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Politicians from Dnipro Non-U.S. alumni of the Command and General Staff College Recipients of the Order of Danylo Halytsky Recipients of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Gold Star (Ukraine)