Kharkiv direction commander replaced in the Ukrainian Armed Forces: what is known about the new leader
13 May 2024 16:09
Amid the Russian offensive in the north of Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have changed the commander of the Kharkiv operational and tactical group of troops. Mykhailo Drapaty has been appointed to replace Yuriy Galushkin, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports, citing RBC-Ukraine.
The agency was informed about the changes in the command in the Kharkiv direction by the Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Military Group (OSMG).
“According to the decision of the military leadership, Brigadier General Mykhailo Drapaty was appointed commander of the Kharkiv operational and tactical group of troops on 11 May,
– the Khortytsia Joint Task Force reported.
Drapaty also remains in the post of Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Kharkiv Operational Group of Forces is a unit of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that is part of the Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Group of Forces. It was created at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Units of the group took part in the Kharkiv counter-offensive in September 2022.
Who is Mykhailo Drapaty?
Mykhailo Drapaty is a Brigadier General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, former commander of the 58th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade (2016-2019). He was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi and the Cross of Military Merit.
In 2014, when the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine began, Major Drapatyi was the commander of the 2nd Mechanised Battalion of the 72nd Separate Mechanised Brigade. In particular, in the spring of 2014, he commanded an operation during which he and his battalion were to enter Mariupol to reinforce local units already fighting against the militants. Local pro-Russian activists built barricades in the city. A video of a Ukrainian infantry fighting vehicle driving through such a barricade became world famous at the time. Mykhailo Drapaty was in the first vehicle.
From March to May, his battalion held the defence around Volnovakha, then near Amvrosiivka, Sverdlovsk, Chervonopartizansk and Izvaryne. The successful breakthrough of Drapaty’s unit from the so-called Izvaryne Cauldron in August 2014 is another well-known episode of his combat activity.
“2 MB commander Mykhailo Drapaty led his 260 heroes on 31 armoured vehicles to break through on the same night [3 August]. On the morning of 4 August, the column reached Zelenopillya, where the 79th Brigade and 24th Brigade were stationed. Together with them, on the night of 6-7 August, the soldiers of the 72nd Brigade made the second and decisive stage of their famous breakthrough, leaving the so-called Izvaryn Cauldron in full force, without losing a single soldier,”
– the Army wrote at the time.
During the full-scale war, until January 2024, he headed the Kherson operational group. He was one of the leaders of the liberation of the right bank of the Kherson region in 2022. In February 2024, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Military Training.
