Ukraine's General Staff announces audit of unit staffing, manpower allocation, as Drapatyi takes charge
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Ukraine's General Staff announced on July 29 an audit of combat unit staffing and manpower allocation under its new commander, General Mykhailo Drapatyi.
The move comes after long-standing criticism of Drapatyi's predecessor as Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, over the disproportionate diversion of Ukraine's scarce mobilized recruits to newly formed brigades and assault units widely criticized as ineffective and notorious for abuse, violence, and wasteful attacks.
"The key goal is to assess the actual state of manning in brigades, regiments, and corps, analyze the effectiveness of personnel distribution among units, and identify ways to improve personnel management," the General Staff's announcement read.
The military's handling of manpower became a major source of public criticism of Syrskyi, who was dismissed by President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 21 after protests over the dismissal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov expanded to include demands for his removal.
Nicknamed "butcher" ever since his days commanding the defense of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast, Syrskyi spent the last year of his tenure personally expanding assault battalions into oversized regiments numbering in the thousands, while regular mechanized brigades were desperately short of replenishments.
One of the units, the notorious 425th Assault Regiment, better known as Skelia, has dominated headlines in recent months as the worst example of the inhumane treatment of soldiers, after an investigation by Ukrainian media outlet Babel found dozens of cases of the death of service members during training.
In public interviews, Syrskyi acknowledged the uneven distribution in favor of assault units, but justified it by citing their heavier losses, suffered while undertaking difficult and costly assault operations.
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Drapatyi, who has built a reputation for human-centric leadership during his time as Ground Forces commander, has been projected to correct some of the more glaring internal issues exacerbating the manpower crisis, changes that will be crucial if Ukraine is to survive Russia's war of attrition.
"These decisions are aimed at increasing combat readiness, ensuring personnel balance and more rational use of human capital," the announcement added.
"Any systemic changes in the army begin with a change in attitude towards a person."
The General Staff's announcement is not the first attempt to review the process of manpower allocation in the military.
In November 2025, presidential advisor and former brigade commander Pavlo Palisa led an effort to assess the fairness of personnel distribution between brigades, while Fedorov himself had announced an audit of battlefield losses that likely put him on collision course with Syrskyi.
Fighting against Russia, Ukraine's military has been locked in a chronic manpower crisis since 2024, when high losses among the infantry coincided with a decline in voluntary enlistment.
