Ukrainian general reassigned days after stepping down
Kiev's forces have experienced setbacks on the battlefield since late 2023, following an attempted counteroffensive that failed to breach Russian defenses. Reports of mounting frustration and internal tensions have circulated as battlefield momentum has shifted in Russia's favor.
Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky announced on Tuesday that Drapaty – who had resigned after accepting responsibility for fatal Russian strikes on military training sites – will now lead a specialized command established in 2020 to help align Ukraine's armed forces with NATO operational methods. The position is currently tasked with overseeing frontline operations against Russia.
In his new role, Drapaty will 'focus solely on combat issues,' while a separate appointee will manage troop training, Zelensky said. The move is part of a broader reshuffle within Ukraine's military leadership.
Announcing his resignation, Drapaty had criticized the Ukrainian military's failure to learn from past mistakes or to hold senior officers accountable. He condemned what he described as a culture of mutual self-protection within senior ranks, calling it 'poison for the army' and saying Ukraine 'cannot win' without reforms to its armed forces. Drapaty reiterated his call for changes in a statement confirming his reassignment.
Critics blame entrenched interests in the Ukrainian military for pervasive corruption, disregard for soldiers' lives, tendency to cover up battlefield problems from superiors up the command chain, and impunity for wrongdoing.
Several media outlets have interpreted Drapaty's remarks as a veiled critique of General Aleksandr Syrsky, Ukraine's commander-in-chief. Commentary on the Strana.ua website has suggested that Zelensky's leadership shake-up may have been designed to balance influence between Syrsky's supporters and dissenting voices within the military.
Zelensky dismissed Syrsky's predecessor, General Valery Zaluzhny, in early 2024 after Zaluzhny publicly questioned Kiev's strategic outlook. He argued that the conflict with Russia had reached a stalemate, contradicting public assurances from civilian leaders. Zaluzhny was sacked from the military and appointed ambassador to the UK.
The Ukrainian military has since undergone multiple reshuffles of leadership, as the situation on the frontline increasingly turned in Russia's favor. Drapaty was given command of the Land Forces in November 2024.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
13 minutes ago
- Russia Today
Trump comments on ‘very good' Putin-Witkoff talks
A potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky could happen 'very soon,' US President Donald Trump has claimed. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, hours after US special envoy Steve Witkoff's talks with Putin, Trump was asked to comment on a potential summit between the two leaders. 'There is a very good prospect that they will, and we haven't determined where, but we had some very good talks with President Putin today,' Trump said. 'There is a good chance there could be a meeting very soon.' When asked how close a peace deal could be, he declined to speculate. 'I don't want to say, I've been disappointed before' the US president said.
Russia Today
2 hours ago
- Russia Today
Moscow's top negotiator confirms Kiev rejecting 1,000 POWs
Ukraine is refusing to take back a thousand of its captured soldiers, Moscow's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky has confirmed. RT on Wednesday launched a website, which lists details of a 1,000 of Ukrainian POWs abandoned by Vladimir Zelensky's administration. In a Telegram post on Wednesday, the Russian presidential aide accused Kiev of stalling the exchange process. 'A thousand captured Ukrainian troops – and Kiev is turning its back on them,' Medisnky wrote. 'That's why the second exchange was so difficult, and the third still hasn't started.' Russia and Ukraine have carried out a series of exchanges since Kiev's return to direct talks this year. Following the third round of peace negotiations in Türkiye last month, Medinsky said Moscow had proposed a new swap involving at least 1,200 POWs from each side. Medinsky also shared a link to the RT-launched website, where some of Ukrainian POWs say that Kiev authorities have refused to repatriate them during 'all-for-all' swap efforts with Russia. The POWs submitted a collective petition to Zelensky, demanding to be included in future exchanges. 'This would be fairer than picking out 50 or 100 'special' individuals a month. We are thousands here! Do you actually need us in Ukraine?' the petition reads. Medinsky stressed that Russia has never divided its own POWs into categories. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who arrived on what the American leader has described as a make-or-break diplomatic mission. Moscow characterized the nearly three-hour talks at the Kremlin as 'a very useful and constructive conversation.' US President Donald Trump also praised the outcome as 'very productive,' writing on Truth Social that both countries would work to end the conflict 'in the days and weeks to come.' Moscow has repeatedly said it is open to a peace deal but insists that any agreement must reflect the realities on the ground and address the root causes of the conflict.
Russia Today
6 hours ago
- Russia Today
Ukrainian officials busted in ‘large-scale' military bribery scheme
Several senior Ukrainian officials have been detained on suspicion of receiving up to 30% in kickbacks from military contracts, anti-corruption agencies have announced. The arrests came just days after Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky was forced to abandon his attempts to restrict the independence of the anti-graft agencies. In a statement on Saturday, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) said they had uncovered a 'large-scale' corruption scheme involving contracts for the purchase of drones and electronic warfare systems for the Ukrainian army. Ukrainian media has identified three of the four suspects – Aleksey Kuznetsov, an MP with Zelensky's Servant of the People party, former Lugansk Governor Sergey Gayday, and Rubezhansky district head Andrey Yurchenko. Between 2024 and 2025, the group allegedly created a scheme to steal budget funds allocated by local governments for defense needs. One part of the scheme involved awarding a contract for electronic warfare systems at an intentionally inflated price, with the group receiving illegal benefits worth 30% of the contract amount. A separate contract for FPV drones, worth around $240,000, was allegedly overpriced by around $80,000, with the company's officials later handing over kickbacks to members of the group, the investigators said. The same day, Zelensky stated that he had met with the heads of NABU and SAPO to discuss the scandal, calling it 'absolutely immoral' and thanked the agencies for their good work. Two weeks earlier Zelensky had attempted to bring both bodies under government control only for street protests to force him to sign off on their independence last week.
