Zelensky appoints Brigadier General Shapovalov as new Ground Forces chief
President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 19 appointed Brigadier General Hennadii Shapovalov as the new commander of Ukraine's Ground Forces, following the resignation of Mykhailo Drapatyi earlier this month.
Drapatyi stepped down on June 1 after a Russian missile strike killed at least 12 Ukrainian soldiers at a training ground in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. He described the casualties as young recruits who "should have learned, lived, and fought — not died."
Zelensky accepted Drapatyi's resignation and appointed him Commander of the Joint Forces on June 3. An investigation into the incident is ongoing, with the Ground Forces promising accountability if misconduct or negligence is confirmed.
Shapovalov, born in 1978 in Kirovohrad Oblast, is a career officer who graduated from the Military Institute of Tank Troops in Kharkiv and later studied at the National Defense University of Ukraine. He also received training at the U.S. Army War College.
Shapovalov previously led Ukraine's South Operational Command in 2024 and was appointed in February 2025 as Ukraine's representative to the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) mission in Germany.
Drapatyi, in his final remarks as Ground Forces chief on June 11, said he had overhauled more than half of the command's senior leadership, launched a revamp of recruitment centers, and pushed through reforms focused on decentralization, accountability, and modernization.
Zelensky said Drapatyi's new role would allow him to focus "exclusively on combat issues" as Ukraine faces intensifying Russian attacks across several fronts.
Oleg Sukhov
