Maj Gen Mykhailo Drapatyi, 43, has become Ukraine's commander-in-chief, replacing Oleksandr Syrskyi and becoming the third person to hold the role since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022. His appointment has been welcomed by both civil society and the military, with his name having been chanted at protests that originally backed his friend, former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov, before turning into calls for Syrskyi's dismissal.

Drapatyi built his reputation over two decades in the Ukrainian military, gaining early prominence in 2014 when footage of his unit storming a barricade in Mariupol went viral. During the full-scale invasion he led task forces that helped push back Russian advances near Kryvyi Rih and liberated settlements in Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk, later commanding Ukraine's land troops. He resigned in 2025 after a Russian missile strike killed 12 soldiers and wounded 60 at a training ground, taking personal responsibility for a "conspiracy of silence and impunity" — a move widely praised as accountability, after which President Zelensky instead made him commander of the Joint Forces. Analysts describe him as popular among rank-and-file troops, though he is expected to face significant operational constraints in his new role.