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Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi, has been described as representing the “new school” of Ukrainian military leadership, compared with his predecessor, Oleksandr Syrskyi, who was seen as a Soviet-era general.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired Syrskyi on Tuesday after protests that started in Kyiv demanding his ouster and the reinstatement of former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov had spread across the country. Protests will continue until Fedorov is reinstated as defense minister, organizers have said.
Retired U.S. Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery said that the choice of Drapatyi was “a bold move by Zelensky.”
“He is the one leader who can complete the long-needed reform of Ukraine’s general staff and [address] its command-and-control challenges,” he told Newsweek. “He has the opportunity to both succeed in the war and prepare the Armed Forces of Ukraine for NATO accession.”
Fedorov and Syrskyi are said to have clashed over strategy, with the latter considered part of the old guard in the Ukrainian army that favors a highly centralized command structure rooted in Soviet military doctrine.
Fedorov was credited with expanding military innovation, technology and cooperation between the Ministry of Defense and the armed forces.
Who Is New Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi?
After being dismissed in a government reshuffle last week, Fedorov’s fate is not yet known, but he described the appointment of Drapatyi as commander-in-chief as “a breath of fresh air and a new source of hope in the fight of free people for freedom and justice.”
Drapatyi is an experienced ground forces commander who endorses Fedorov’s vision of reform in the armed forces, faster procurement and promoting talented managers, Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at the Chatham House think tank said.
“His appointment means that there could be productive cooperation to ensure effective command and justice in service in terms of pay and rotations,” she told Newsweek. “It is not just about drones—much will depend who will lead the MOD and if Ukraine maintains the speed and scale of its technological innovation.”
Drapatyi has been fighting Russian forces since Moscow first intervened in Ukraine in 2014. He commanded the 2nd Mechanized Battalion of Ukraine’s 72nd Mechanized Brigade and took part in the defense of eastern Ukraine, with his unit deployed around Mariupol.
Video has resurfaced on social media of him leading his battalion into the city in armored vehicles to reinforce Ukrainian forces and preventing the city from falling after Russian-backed militants attempted to seize the local police headquarters.
“General Mykhailo Drapatyi is one of Ukraine’s most experienced combat commanders and represents the ‘new school’ of Ukrainian military leadership,” military analyst Giorgi Revishvili posted on X.
“A battle-tested general, his candidacy enjoyed particularly strong support from both Ukrainian civil society and the military,” his post said.
Montgomery, senior director at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank said that Drapatyi’s first big challenge will be to disentangle the General Staff from day-to-day operational control of combat forces.
This means putting the General Staff in charge of force generation and the Joint Operational Command, or Drapatyi’s old command, in charge of executing the war.
He will need good subordinates in both those roles of Chief of General Staff and Commander of the Joint Operations Center, Montgomery said.
“Drapatyi understands the clear imperative—institutionalizing the concept of decentralized control or execution, and that delegating authorities drives this success,” he said.
Retired Australian Major General Mick Ryan wrote on his Futura Doctrina substack that Drapatyi has a reputation as “a modern, soldier-focused commander who seeks input from his subordinates, supports innovation, including the initial development of Ukraine’s drone line—and accepts responsibility when things go wrong.”
Ryan noted how Drapatyi had resigned as ground forces commander in 2025 after Russian strikes killed troops at a training ground which was “a rare act of accountability in any army.”
But the new commander-in-chief has much to do, including sustaining Ukraine’s momentum that has seen Kyiv’s forces reclaim territory around Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region and thwart Russian advances elsewhere.
Ukraine also continues to achieve results with its mid- and long-range strike campaigns on Russian oil refineries, military infrastructure and Moscow’s sanctions-busting shadow fleet. Occupied Crimea has become increasingly isolated by Ukrainian strikes.
“The difficulty for Drapatyi is the huge expectation from Ukrainian society to keep winning on the battlefield and succeed with long-range strikes,” said Lutsevych from Chatham House.
She said if Russian President Vladimir Putin escalates after September’s parliamentary (Duma) elections and calls for wider mobilization, “in addition to pounding cities with missiles, Ukraine may face difficulty holding its front line and disappointments are likely.”
“Ukraine is inventing a new way of waging a war, there is no blueprint so it requires innovative leadership. The coming months will show if Drapatyi stands this test,” Lutsevych added.
Update 7/22/26, 11:18 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from retired U.S. Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Frances Mao and Tony Phillips
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