Head of Ukraine's Eastern Operational Command steps down amid military reshuffle

Major General Viktor Nikoliuk announced on Sept. 17 that he is leaving his post as commander of Ukraine's Eastern Operational Command.

The news comes amid a series of reforms to unit staffing and manpower allocation initiated by newly appointed Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi.

Nikoliuk announced his departure in a Facebook post on Sept. 17.

"I can say with confidence that I am handing over to my successor a fully combat-ready force capable of steadfastly conducting active defensive operations," he wrote.

The general assumed leadership of the Eastern Operational Command — a group of forces defending some of the most embattled regions along Ukraine's front lines, including units in Donetsk, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv oblasts — in April 2026. He previously served as the commander of the Donetsk Operational-Strategic Group.

Nikoliuk replaced Brigadier General Dmytro Bratishko, former commander of the Eastern Operational Command.

During his five-month tenure, Nikoliuk commanded troops in the Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka, Ocheretyne, and Pokrovsk sectors. He said the situation in these areas was "very difficult" at the time he took command.  

"Through our joint efforts, we prevented the enemy from capturing Kostiantynivka, where enemy forces were blocked. In the Sloviansk and Kramatorsk sectors, we managed to establish a robust, echeloned defense," he wrote on Facebook.

Nikoliuk did not say what his next position would be, only that his "new path" would "be determined for me by the higher military leadership."

The Ukrainian news outlet Hromadske, citing sources in the military, said that the Eastern Operational Command was being disbanded altogether under Drapatyi's reshuffle.

Command over the eastern sector will be taken over by the newly formed "Azov" and "Center" force groupings, whose creation President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in late August, sources said.

The new formations are to be led by Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi and Brigadier General Denys Prokopenko. They are charged with bolstering Ukrainian positions in Donetsk Oblast.

The eastern region has seen the most intense battles on the front lines as Russia concentrates its main offensive effort on cities of the so-called "fortress belt."

Biletskyi is the commander of Ukraine's Third Army Corps, while Prokopenko commands the National Guard's 1st Azov Corps. Both generals have led Ukrainian forces in some of the war's most critical battles.

Zelensky announced the reorganization of the units during a visit to the front-line Oleksandrivka sector with Drapatyi.

Previously, the military announced in August that Ukraine's notorious 425th Assault Regiment, better known as Skelia, had been reassigned to the command of the National Guard's 1st Azov Corps.