First shot in Donbas, dispersal of Maidan, international peacekeeping missions: Introducing Ukraine’s new top brass
The major personnel reshuffle in Ukraine's military leadership affected not only the position of the commander—in—chief of the Armed Forces. hromadske has collected information about all the newly appointed leaders in the Defense Forces, as well as their backgrounds.
New deputy commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
After the appointment of Oleksandr Syrskyi to the highest military post in the country, President Zelenskyy's cabinet also introduced his new deputies. They are:
- Colonel Vadym Sukharevskyi - responsible for unmanned systems and the development of drone use;
- Colonel Andriy Lebedenko, who is in charge of innovations, namely the technological component of the army and combat systems.
Sukharevskyi and Lebedenko replaced Lieutenant Generals Yevhen Moysiuk and Viktor Bokiy in these positions.
Vadym Sukharevskyi (call sign "Borsuk") is a native of Zakarpattya. He served in the 80th Separate Airmobile Brigade (which is now an air assault brigade) and was the commander of the 503rd Airmobile Brigade stationed in Mariupol. Sukharevskyi led this battalion in 2015-2021 and left his mark there forever: the battalion's soldiers now call themselves "borsuks” (‘badgers’), and the animal itself has become a symbol of the unit.
Later, Sukharevskyi became the Chief of Staff of the 35th Separate Marine Brigade and the commander of the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, which, after the start of the large-scale invasion, performed combat missions, in particular in Mykolaiv and Kherson oblasts.
In 2004, Sukharevskyi became the youngest Ukrainian peacekeeper in the Iraqi peacekeeping mission. There he joined the The battle lasted from April 5 to April 7, 2004, in Al-Kut (Wasit Governorate), a city where Ukrainian troops were stationed in Iraq. The Ukrainian peacekeeping unit was attacked by the Mahdi Army militants. The Ukrainians took the fight, held the facilities entrusted to their protection for several hours, and won.battle for the city of Al-Kut.
Sukharevskyi is also called the officer who in 2014 "fired the first shot at the Russian invaders in the undeclared war". On April 13, 2014, near the village of Semenivka, near the then-occupied Slovyansk, he took part in the first battle with the occupiers, violating the order to cease fire.
After that, he also took part in the defense of Luhansk airport, the liberation of Slovyansk and Heorhiyivka, and a raid by the Ukrainian military to delimit the territory controlled by the Ukrainian government and the land seized by the occupiers.
As early as 2016, Borsuk and his battalion were already performing missions near Mariupol.
In contrast, not much is known about Andriy Lebedenko. In September 2022, Zelenskyy awarded him the Order of Danylo Halytskyi, which the President presents for "significant personal contribution to the development of Ukraine, conscientious and impeccable service to the Ukrainian people."
Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Major General Anatoliy Barhylevych has become the new Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In this position, he replaced Lieutenant General Serhiy Shaptala. Zelenskyy described Barhylevych as "an experienced person who understands the tasks of this war and Ukrainian goals."
Barhylevych graduated from the Tashkent Higher Tank Command School in the USSR and has been serving in the Armed Forces for more than three decades. In 2014, he worked as the head of the Operational Training Department within the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff. According to the general, in the fall of that year he was sent to the ATO headquarters as a "head of the operational department". There, he was involved in planning, organizing and managing the "anti-terrorist operation," particularly when the Russians became more active at the Donetsk airport and Debaltseve.
In 2016, Barhylevych was appointed head of the operational department in the Ground Forces Command. In 2020, he became Deputy Commander of the Ground Forces and Head of the Territorial Defense Command of Ukraine. Since 2022, he has been the Chief of Staff of the The Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Grouping is responsible for combat operations in the eastern part of Ukraine - on the front line from Kharkiv to Vuhledar.Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Troop Grouping.
In October 2023, Barhylevych became the commander of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, replacing Major General Ihor Tantsiura.
Barhylevych said that the TDF continued to participate in hostilities and should be reformed "on the move." Thus, he called for restructuring the model itself or improving the TDF, primarily in terms of the role and place of command.
New deputy chiefs of the Armed Forces General Staff
Along with Barhylevych, the new team of the General Staff included
- Brigadier General Volodymyr Horbatiuk - operational work, work of headquarters, planning, management;
- Brigadier General Mykhailo Drapatyi - responsible for training and quality training of the military;
- Brigadier General Oleksiy Shevchenko - logistics in the army.
Volodymyr Horbatiuk is a native of Tyvriv, Vinnytsia Oblast. In 2008, he participated in an international peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. After studying at the military academy, he was a battalion commander and deputy commander of the 72nd Brigade.
Horbatiuk said that the Russo-Ukrainian war caught him in Kosovo, where he served as a contingent commander. From 2014 to 2017, Horbatiuk was the commander of the 54th Hetman Ivan Mazepa Separate Mechanized Brigade, which was stationed in the city of Bakhmut. In particular, Horbatiuk led the brigade during the fighting at the Svitlodarsk bulge. In the same year, 2015, he was awarded the III class Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky.
After that, he studied at the National War College in Washington, D.C., where he earned a master's degree in national security.
Upon his return, he was appointed deputy commander of the Reserve Corps, and in April 2020, he was appointed deputy commander of the troops of Operational Command “West”.
When the Russo-Ukrainian war broke out, Mykhailo Drapatyi was the commander of the 2nd Mechanized Battalion of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, which was stationed in Bila Tserkva. His former colleagues have repeatedly described Drapatyi as a "legendary" commander.
In April 2014, units of Drapatyi's battalion were already in eastern Ukraine to perform missions. On May 9, armed terrorists attempted to seize the police department in Mariupol. Drapatyi's unit entered the city on armored vehicles to free hostages and reinforce the units that repelled the militants' assault.
Already in June, the first and second battalions of the 72nd Brigade went on a raid along the border with Russia and took control of the border area near a number of settlements. Their task was to reach the border and cut off the terrorists from logistical support from Russia. But then, in support of the terrorists of the so-called "DPR," Ukrainian units began to fire from the territory of the Russian Federation. Thus, the units of the 24th, 72nd, 79th brigades and border guards found themselves in a ring of fire. In this "pocket" they could not respond to shelling from Russian territory and militants who were hiding behind populated areas.
After more than 20 days in the encirclement, Drapatyi headed the 72nd Brigade's strike group and took responsibility for further actions. Under Drapatiy's command, not only his brigade's fighters were taken out of the encirclement, but others as well.
In August 2016, Drapatyi was appointed commander of the 58th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade (headquartered in Konotop, Sumy Oblast), which at that time was performing tasks in Avdiyivka and Yasynuvata district of Donetsk Oblast. Since July 2017, he has been in charge of the 58th Separate Mechanized Brigade in the area of the Bakhmut road in the ATO zone.
In August 2019, he transferred the 58th Brigade to another commander and began a two-year training as a student at the Ivan Chernyakhovskyi National Defense University of Ukraine. Later, he was the commander of the Kherson Operational Troop Grouping.
Drapatyi has received a number of awards: The Cross of Combat Merit, the Orders of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, I, II, and III classes, the Firearms award of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, etc.
Oleksiy Shevchenko served in command positions in artillery units, held the positions of deputy chief of the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy, and chief of the S.P. Koroliov Zhytomyr Military Institute.
On April 19, 2022, Shevchenko was appointed head of the Military Academy in Odesa, and in August Zelenskyy promoted him to the rank of brigadier general. In 2020, Shevchenko was awarded the Order of Danylo Halytskyi, and in 2022, the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, III class.
Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
This position was taken by Lieutenant General Yuriy Sodol, a hero of Ukraine and former commander of the Ukrainian Marines. Originally from Mariupol, Sodol studied at the Sumy Higher Artillery Command School.
Since 2003, he served in the airborne troops, and in 2007 was appointed commander of the 25th Airborne Brigade.
Yuriy Sodol has been at war since 2014, and his brigade spent five months in active combat in the east of the country. In particular, with the 25th Brigade, he took part in the battles for Rubizhne, the storming of Yampil, the defense of Donetsk airport, and covering the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Debaltseve.
In January 2015, he was appointed First Deputy Commander of the Air Assault Forces. Three years later, he was promoted to the position of Commander of the Marine Corps and the rank of Lieutenant General. Since then, Sodol has been the Commander of the Marine Corps of the Ukrainian Navy. He also held the position of Commander of the "East" operational and tactical grouping.
Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are headed by Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk, who is probably already known to ordinary Ukrainians, who previously served as the first deputy minister of defense of Ukraine, head of the Kyiv Oblast Military Administration and commander of the Joint Forces Operation.
Since March 2014, Pavliuk has been involved in repelling Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine. Under his command, the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade took part in the battles for the liberation of Sloviansk, Krasnyi Lyman, Kramatorsk, Lysychansk and other cities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
In March 2017, Pavliuk became the commander of the troops of Operational Command "West" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the summer of 2020, he was appointed Chief of Training of the Ground Forces Command.
In July 2021, he was appointed Commander of the Joint Forces Operation. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, he has been in charge of defense in eastern Ukraine. His military units held Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna and other settlements in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
From March 15 to May 21, 2022, he served as the head of the Kyiv Oblast Military Administration. In February 2023, he was appointed first deputy minister of defense.
Commander of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Brigadier General, Hero of Ukraine Ihor Skybyuk became the new Commander of the Air Assault Forces. He began his military service in 1998 in the 80th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade based in Lviv.
Skybyuk was promoted from platoon commander to brigade commander. He took part in the fighting in eastern Ukraine after 2014.
During the Kharkiv counter-offensive, it was the soldiers of the 80th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade of the Airborne Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who raided the occupiers' rear and liberated a number of settlements in Kharkiv Oblast, including Izyum.
Since 2023, Skybyuk has served as Chief of Staff - Deputy Commander of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Commander of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Ihor Plakhuta, perhaps the most controversial of the newly appointed leaders, has been appointed commander of the Territorial Defense Forces.
In 2005-2008, Plakhuta served as the commander of the Separate Presidential Brigade. Later, he was the commander of the 169th Desna training center, which has a negative reputation and a history of numerous suicides among the military.
In 2013-2014, during the Revolution of Dignity, he worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and led the Internal Troops that dispersed protesters.
Plakhuta, then the head of the Southern Territorial Command of the Interior Ministry's Internal Troops, claimed that about 400 internal troops and Berkut special forces were used to "clear" the streets adjacent to the presidential administration. He also told journalists about the injured security forces and said that "people in black who were dismantling the barricades" were "utility workers".
On February 18, 2014, Plakhuta gave a comment to a journalist in which he assured that there would be no storming of the protesters' barricades. Nevertheless, on the same day, more than 20 people died as a result of confrontations between security forces and protesters.
Journalist Olha Khudetska wrote: On February 21, 2014, Plakhuta "was the only one who did not abandon his military, tried to gather them together, prevent further escalation and was focused on getting them out of the chaotic situation of anarchy and into the barracks, away from the incomprehensible moves." On that day, the Revolution of Dignity protesters eventually warned that they would storm government buildings if Viktor Yanukovych did not step down.
Meanwhile, military officer Maksym Hromov characterizes him as a "man of action." "Whenever it was necessary to f*ck over some grunts or financiers who failed to assume their positions or pay salaries on time, he tore them all to shreds and solved the issue instantly. He speaks Ukrainian exclusively, and is very straightforward and approachable."
After the Revolution of Dignity, Plakhuta retired, and in 2018-2019 he was the deputy head of the Institute of the Department of the State Protection at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.