Mykhailo Drapatiy

Mykhailo Drapatyi – Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Mykhailo Vasylovych Drapatyi was born on November 21, 1982, in the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi in the Khmelnytskyi region. In 2004, he graduated from the Kharkiv Institute of Tank Troops named after the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and after that began serving in the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade.

In 2014, Drapatyi was commander of the 2nd Mechanized Battalion of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade. It was he who carried out the legendary breakthrough in armored vehicles through a checkpoint in Mariupol.

Since September 2024, Drapatyi headed the Operational and Tactical Group "Luhansk". Before that – the Operational and Tactical Group "Kharkiv"; he was Deputy Chief of the General Staff. Until January 2024, he headed the operational group "Kherson". He is one of the commanders who led the liberation of the right bank of the Kherson region.

On November 29, 2024, President Zelenskyy appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine instead of Oleksandr Pavliuk.

On June 1, 2025, Mykhailo Drapatyi announced that he had decided to submit his resignation from the post of Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This happened against the background of a Russian strike on one of the Ukrainian training grounds, where soldiers were killed. However, after talks with Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Drapatyi received a new position – he became Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 

Mykhailo Drapatyi became Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on July 22, 2026.

Channel 24 has described the full biography of Mykhailo Drapatyi in detail.