Following major high-level leadership shakeups, Ukraine has named Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi as its new Commander-in-Chief. Renowned for his fearless frontline action in Mariupol and modern tactical mindset, the 43-year-old general represents a sharp departure from Soviet-era strategy. Focused on cutting bureaucracy, scaling drone warfare, and minimizing casualties, Drapatyi’s rise is Moscow’s worst nightmare.
⏱️ CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Mykhailo Drapatyi Named Ukraine Commander in Chief
01:30 - Mykhailo Drapatyi Mariupol Heroics in 2014
02:45 - Russian Bloggers Fear 43 Year Old General
04:00 - Oleksandr Syrskyi Soviet Tactics Versus Modern Warfare
05:25 - Ukraine Manpower Crisis and 200,000 AWOL Soldiers
06:50 - Ukrainian Army Reforms to Reduce Soldier Casualties
08:10 - Could Mykhailo Fedorov Return as Defense Minister?
09:30 - Putin Prepares Massive September Russian Army Mobilization
10:50 - Can Mykhailo Drapatyi Break the Russian Army?
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#militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis
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SOURCES: https://privatebin.net/?a14e3a655ccd7388#2LzuYbVC4Nxc5uV6zeULkiwLMKfeEBTSWJsD6EszKMRE
⏱️ CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Mykhailo Drapatyi Named Ukraine Commander in Chief
01:30 - Mykhailo Drapatyi Mariupol Heroics in 2014
02:45 - Russian Bloggers Fear 43 Year Old General
04:00 - Oleksandr Syrskyi Soviet Tactics Versus Modern Warfare
05:25 - Ukraine Manpower Crisis and 200,000 AWOL Soldiers
06:50 - Ukrainian Army Reforms to Reduce Soldier Casualties
08:10 - Could Mykhailo Fedorov Return as Defense Minister?
09:30 - Putin Prepares Massive September Russian Army Mobilization
10:50 - Can Mykhailo Drapatyi Break the Russian Army?
Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join
#militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis
#themilitaryshow
SOURCES: https://privatebin.net/?a14e3a655ccd7388#2LzuYbVC4Nxc5uV6zeULkiwLMKfeEBTSWJsD6EszKMRE
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NewsTranscript
00:00It's no secret that there has been chaos in the upper echelons of Ukraine's military in recent
00:04weeks. Former Defense Minister Mikhailo Fedorov is gone. Seemingly ousted after losing a political
00:13battle of wills with Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Oleksandr Siersky.
00:18We should say former Commander-in-Chief. Siersky is gone too.
00:23The victim of backlash over the removal of the popular Fedorov.
00:28Putin will have watched all of this with a massive smile on his face.
00:32But that smile has been wiped clean off.
00:35Following the turmoil comes the turning point.
00:38Someone legendary has just taken command of Ukraine's army.
00:42He is a legend in battle. Russia's worst nightmare.
00:45And he has arrived to lead Ukraine in the breaking of the Russian war machine.
00:49Putin should be very worried. We're going to explain why.
00:52On July 24th, it was all made official.
00:55The new Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, Mikhailo Drapachi, was presented to the world.
01:01He spoke of the challenge that lies ahead, not just for him but for all of Ukraine,
01:05as it works to repel Putin's invasion, which is now deep into its fifth year.
01:10Drapachi called for unity across all aspects of the military and declared that he would work for results rather than
01:16politics.
01:17Drapachi also listed four priorities, which include building up Ukraine's air defenses,
01:22increasing the country's lethality against Russia, developing and scaling the unmanned component
01:28of Ukraine's armed forces, and cutting through all unnecessary bureaucracy.
01:32That all sounds very Fedorov-like to us.
01:35And as we'll discuss soon, that may mean Ukraine's ousted defense minister could have a path back to his previous
01:41position.
01:42But for now, this is about Drapachi.
01:44We told you that he is a nightmare for Russia, and to understand why, we take you to the southeastern
01:49city of Mariupol.
01:51In May 2014, pro-Russian separatists had built a barricade to prevent Ukraine's army from regaining control over the city.
01:59That barricade failed.
02:00The reason was that an armored vehicle smashed through it at a crazy speed, punching a hole through what the
02:07separatists had built.
02:08That hole allowed another armored vehicle to follow, and the soldiers inside went on to save the lives of police
02:13officers,
02:14whom the separatists were holding hostage in Mariupol's interior ministry building.
02:19One of the men driving in that vehicle that smashed through the barricade was Michalo Drapachi.
02:24In one incident, Drapachi became a hero.
02:26The video of his exploits spread all over social media, as the young soldier received a claim for somehow leading
02:32his unit from a hopeless situation into a victorious one.
02:36Of course, one viral act of heroism doesn't amount to a qualification for Ukraine's commander-in-chief.
02:42However, what Drapachi's exploits in 2014 showed Ukraine was that he is a man who takes situations by the scruff
02:49of the neck.
02:50Uninterested in holding back, he fights to win.
02:53Ukraine needs that right now, and its soldiers are delighted at the recent appointment.
02:58There's no better person for this position nowadays in Ukraine, one soldier told the BBC,
03:03hinting that Drapachi is a lot more than one video of him smashing a barricade with an armored vehicle.
03:08Another unnamed officer, who spoke about the new commander-in-chief back in June 2025, said,
03:13Drapachi is a relatively young general.
03:15He is gifted.
03:16He was always sent to places where the situation was extremely difficult.
03:20Yet another soldier, Artem Karyakin, tells the Kiev Independent,
03:23Drapachi commands tremendous respect within the Ukrainian military, something that is extremely difficult to earn.
03:29There is clearly a lot more to this young general than one video suggests,
03:33but perhaps the best way to gauge how important this new appointment will be for Ukraine
03:37comes from the reactions of the Russian occupiers once they heard the news.
03:41Russians are raging.
03:43They know that Drapachi is a very dangerous man.
03:47A July 22 report in the Kiev Independent, ahead of the general's official unveiling, highlights that.
03:52Russian military blogger Kirill Fedorov, who has 500,000 subscribers to his Telegram channel,
03:59was quick to sound the alarm as he shared the now-famous video of the armored vehicle.
04:03He hates us, and he hates us consistently.
04:06That means he will try to kill us, regardless of any moral constraints,
04:10Fedorov opined, suggesting that Drapachi is a man who will show no mercy to Russian occupiers.
04:16Others have pointed to Drapachi's age as a concern.
04:19He is 43 years old and has risen through the ranks of Ukraine's military,
04:23starting the war as a battalion command, another blogger pointed out,
04:26noting that this is very bad news for Russia.
04:29It means that Drapachi has seen the front lines, knows what is needed,
04:33and, unlike his predecessor, is schooled in the modern way of war rather than Soviet-era combat.
04:39The general consensus seems to be that Drapachi will loosen the constraints on Ukraine's armed forces,
04:44especially its unmanned units, and if that happens,
04:47it would be disastrous for Russian troops on the ground.
04:50At least, that's what the Russians are saying.
04:52But behind all of the bluster, the viral videos, and the Russian fear,
04:57the questions have to be asked.
04:58Who is Mikhail Drapachi really?
05:01And is he the man who can lead Ukraine to victory over Russia?
05:04Starting with the first of those questions,
05:06the one thing we know for sure is that Drapachi is very different from his predecessor, Oleksandr Sierski.
05:12Though only separated by 17 years,
05:14these two men come from very different schools of military thought.
05:18Sierski has been important to Ukraine.
05:20The four-star general's tactics were key during Russia's attempt to overrun Kiev in early 2022,
05:25as it was due to him that Ukraine was able to outmaneuver the mechanized columns that Putin sent toward the
05:31city.
05:32Sierski is also credited as being the mind behind Ukraine's counter-invasion of Kursk in August 2024,
05:37which put Putin in a terrible position by exposing Russia's supposed great protector
05:42as a man who would allow the first invasion onto Russian soil since World War II.
05:46However, Sierski also conducted war in an increasingly old-fashioned way.
05:52Schooled in the 1980s at the Moscow Military Academy,
05:55and once thought to be one of Russia's upcoming top commanders before the Soviet Union collapsed,
06:00Sierski never quite escaped the Russian way of thinking about war.
06:03His own soldiers respected and feared him in equal measure,
06:07naming him the Butcher because of his seeming indifference to human losses.
06:11That attitude might fly in Russia, but in Ukraine,
06:14which has a far smaller population and faces an enemy that can outnumber it,
06:18a Butcher may not be the right person for the job.
06:21Ukraine has developed a new way of war over the last four and a half years.
06:25Many in the country's military believe that this means Sierski and his tactics have become outdated.
06:30By contrast, Drapatchi represents the new school of Ukrainian military thinking.
06:35Free from the Soviet shackles, he brings a combination of Western thought
06:39and Ukraine's own drone-heavy strategy.
06:42He is also far more than the man who commanded the vehicle
06:45that smashed through a barricade in Mariupol.
06:48The BBC reports that he returned to university in 2021
06:51for further strategic and operational training,
06:54being presented with a sword of honour as the university's top student upon his graduation.
07:00In the war with Russia, Drapatchi has led several operational groups,
07:03achieving success in Kherson and Dnipro-Betrovsk,
07:06where his groups have liberated several settlements,
07:09in addition to Kriviri,
07:10where he and his soldiers were able to push back Russian occupiers.
07:14In more recent years, Drapatchi has served as the commander of Ukraine's joint forces,
07:18and it's in this position where tensions between him and Sierski are rumoured to have arisen.
07:23Like Fedorov, Drapatchi wants Ukraine to fight a new kind of war
07:26that is somewhat alien to Sierski and his Soviet-trained approach.
07:30A war that Ukraine can actually win.
07:32Some point to Sierski as a man who knows how to defend,
07:35but also as a man who lacks future vision.
07:38Even as Ukraine's drones score more kills than ever,
07:41Sierski still sticks to what he was taught.
07:43Lacking a vision for victory wasn't a bad thing in the early years of the war,
07:47when the goal seemed to be to defend long enough for Russia
07:49to decide that taking Ukraine was more trouble than it was worth.
07:52But it's 2026.
07:54Putin has long proven that he has no intention of stopping,
07:57no matter how much of Russia's military crumbles,
08:00Ukraine can no longer afford to sustain and survive.
08:03It has to win.
08:04The appointment of Drapatchi is in service of getting that win.
08:08None of this is to disparage Sierski for the vital role that he has played in getting Ukraine this far.
08:13And in his final remarks as Ukraine's commander-in-chief,
08:16Sierski was both diplomatic and forthright in his view of himself and the army he leaves behind.
08:21I am handing over to my successor, an army that is not only holding the line,
08:25but is in a state of offense, with initiative, with structure,
08:28with people who know how to strike the enemy,
08:30and I sincerely hope that this offensive will continue.
08:33Everything needed for that is there, Sierski said before adding.
08:37I said this before and I repeat it today.
08:39My job is war.
08:41Positions change, but this principle does not.
08:43In whatever status I may be, I will serve Ukraine until victory.
08:47The handover has happened, and Sierski appears to be willing to allow himself to fade into the background,
08:52allowing for a smooth transition.
08:54That's a huge positive for Drapatchi as he starts his new role.
08:58However, despite seeming qualified and having enough about him to cause fear in the Russian ranks,
09:03the question of how much of a difference Drapatchi can make has to be asked.
09:07His appointment caught everybody off guard,
09:09but what he will do for Ukraine's military is the real game-changer.
09:13Drapatchi has the potential to be the man who leads Ukraine in the breaking of Putin's war machine.
09:19But before we explain why, you are watching The Military Show.
09:22If you haven't subscribed to the channel yet, now's the perfect time to do it.
09:25And if you want to see our videos as soon as they are published, remember to enable notifications.
09:31There's one thing, above all others, that Drapatchi brings to Ukraine's military.
09:36Hope.
09:36We see that in the words of the soldiers set to serve under him,
09:39who point out that Drapatchi is part of a new generation of officers who developed during the war.
09:44Former Defense Minister Mikhailo Fedorov also inspired similar hope.
09:48We see that in the outpouring of anger in Ukrainian streets upon his dismissal,
09:52as protests called out Ukrainian high command for seemingly trying to get rid of young officers
09:57who want to combat corruption and tackle the layers of bureaucracy that exist in Ukraine's military.
10:03Drapatchi brings with him the same promise of change that Fedorov wanted to deliver.
10:07He brings hope to Ukraine's military.
10:09Don't underestimate the power of hope, especially now,
10:12when Ukraine's army, though effective, is struggling with various morale and manpower challenges.
10:17During the winter, Ukraine experienced one of its most challenging periods yet.
10:22A massive bombardment of its energy infrastructure left civilians shivering in the cold as heat went out.
10:28Many others lost access to power and water.
10:31At one point, 70% of Kiev found itself without power,
10:34as temperatures plunged as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius.
10:38This is all by Russian design, terrorize Ukraine's people,
10:41and they will eventually grow so tired of the war that they will submit to Putin's whims.
10:46That's the approach, at least.
10:48Though Ukraine has done well to recover,
10:50it also has a manpower crisis that has emerged in large part
10:53because potential soldiers are terrified of dying on the front lines.
10:56In January, the Tactics Institute for Security and Counterterrorism
11:01reported that an estimated 200,000 Ukrainian soldiers were absent without leave,
11:05and a further 2 million citizens are wanted for evading mandatory military service.
11:11The patriotic mobilization that had served Ukraine for so long has started to wear thin.
11:16Going up against an enemy that has a population that is four times the size of Ukraine's
11:20could be a killer.
11:22Sieski's reputation as the butcher may have played a part.
11:24It may not be that Ukrainians don't want to fight,
11:27it's perhaps more that they don't want to be sent into assaults
11:29when they have seen that drones, ground robots, and other technology
11:32can be much more effective.
11:34This is somewhat speculative,
11:36but it's notable that many of those who've worked with Drapachi
11:38say that he takes a different approach.
11:40One of those soldiers, Colonel Alexander Vadovichenko,
11:43tells Pravda,
11:44Drapachi never set pointless tasks.
11:46When he listened to commander's reports while planning operations,
11:49he always looked for ways to get the job done with the fewest possible casualties.
11:53Therein lies the hope.
11:55If Drapachi can deliver the same kind of approach across all of Ukraine's military,
11:59the hope is that he will achieve the same or better results than Sieski
12:02with a lower casualty count.
12:04And if he can prove himself as a man who cares about the soldiers under his command,
12:08the hope is that he can also encourage those who may have once evaded their call-ups
12:12to join the military in fight.
12:14Still, all of this is easier said than done.
12:17Hope alone doesn't win a war.
12:19What Drapachi needs to do now is deliver on the promises that he made
12:22when he was unveiled as Ukraine's new commander-in-chief.
12:25He has near-universal support from the people and the army.
12:28He is also noted as a critic of Soviet-style thinking,
12:32being an early adapter of the drone warfare
12:34that has served Ukraine so well in the defense against Russia.
12:37As the Guardian points out, Drapachi represents a break,
12:40not only from Soviet-style tactics,
12:42but also the Soviet-style command structures that still pervade Ukraine's military.
12:47That's where his focus will likely lie in the coming months,
12:50dismantling those old structures and replacing them with newer ones
12:53in which junior officers are given responsibility
12:56and expected to answer for their actions.
12:58A somewhat decentralizing of command,
13:01showcasing trust and a lack of micromanagement
13:03may be what Drapachi delivers to Ukraine's command structures.
13:06How long that change will take to arrive is yet to be seen.
13:09It certainly won't be immediate.
13:11Drapachi is expected to improve battlefield management
13:13and the Ukrainian army's day-to-day functioning,
13:16but his wider challenge of altering command structures
13:19could take months or even years to solve.
13:21Still, Drapachi is a man who seems willing to solve those challenges,
13:25and that's what really worries Russia.
13:27Despite Ukraine's drone advances,
13:29Russia could somewhat trust that Ukraine would fight in a way
13:32that suited its type of war.
13:33Drapachi was a product of Moscow's military academies, after all.
13:37That made him a man who could be predicted to a certain extent.
13:41Drapachi isn't the same kind of leader.
13:43He is very different,
13:44and he's not a man that Russia can easily get a bead on,
13:47which makes him a nightmare.
13:49In Drapachi, Ukraine has somebody
13:51who is a proponent of the modern style of warfare
13:53that has allowed the country to achieve so many positive results,
13:56especially in 2026.
13:58Combine that with his real combat experience
14:01of having served on the front lines in Ukraine,
14:03Drapachi could be the man to bring about the change
14:05informed by what Ukraine's soldiers really need,
14:08innovation and constant adaptability.
14:11Plus, if Drapachi can smooth over the conflicts
14:13that have started to appear between Ukraine's army
14:16and its Ministry of Defense,
14:17that will be a massive bonus.
14:18And that, interestingly, brings us right back to the man
14:21who we mentioned at the start of the video,
14:23Mikhailo Fedorov.
14:24We mentioned earlier that Drapachi and Fedorov's goals
14:27for the Ukrainian military seem to align.
14:29The uproar over the loss of Fedorov
14:32also won't have escaped Drapachi's attention,
14:34nor that of Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky.
14:37Could the appointment of Drapachi pave the way for Fedorov
14:40to return to the role from which he was removed
14:42just a few weeks ago?
14:43It's possible.
14:45Ukraine still hasn't named a permanent defense minister
14:47in the wake of Fedorov's ousting.
14:49Former spy chief Yevheni Kamara
14:52currently holds the position,
14:53though in an interim capacity
14:55as Ukraine's parliament prepares to vote on a replacement.
14:58Maybe a replacement isn't needed.
15:00With Siersky gone, Fedorov's name may be back in the hat.
15:03Fedorov himself says that he has been offered
15:05other positions by Zelensky,
15:07but he refuses to take them
15:08as he believes that there are only three positions
15:11where true change can be effected in Ukraine's army.
15:14Two of those positions,
15:15president and commander-in-chief, are filled.
15:18The other is the role that Fedorov served
15:20just a few weeks ago, defense minister.
15:22Fedorov has even refused the role of deputy prime minister,
15:25demonstrating his conviction
15:27to what he sees as an important cause.
15:30Dripatchi also seems to be a supporter of Fedorov.
15:32When Fedorov and Siersky began to clash earlier in July,
15:36Dripatchi came out in support of Fedorov,
15:38calling him a partner to the armed forces
15:40within the defense ministry
15:41and a person who not only meets our needs,
15:44but also pushed for changes in approach,
15:46faster decision-making,
15:47and support for those willing
15:48to take responsibility for those decisions.
15:51Fedorov seems to return the sentiment,
15:53having thrown his support behind Dripatchi
15:55during meetings with Zelensky,
15:57where Pravda reports he argued for Dripatchi
15:59to receive the job that he now has.
16:01We see a certain synergy,
16:02a great potential for Ukraine's military
16:05and ministry of defense
16:06to coordinate better than it ever has before.
16:08The barrier in place may be Zelensky himself.
16:12Would he be willing to swallow his pride
16:14and reinstate Fedorov?
16:15The ousting of Siersky suggests that he might,
16:18and of course, all of this is speculative.
16:20However, it wouldn't surprise us
16:22if we saw the return of Fedorov,
16:24hailing the beginning of a period of transformation
16:25for Ukraine that sees it finally loosen itself
16:28from the last of the shackles of its Soviet past.
16:32Whatever happens next,
16:33Dripatchi needs to work fast.
16:35September is quickly approaching,
16:36and though Ukraine has done an excellent job
16:38of repelling the spring and summer offensive
16:40that Russia launched in 2026,
16:42more is coming when the fall arrives.
16:44There is word of a September offensive to come.
16:47There are also rumors that the fall
16:49may be when Putin is finally forced
16:50to bite the bullet
16:51and force mobilization onto his people.
16:54Zelensky warned of that on July 24th,
16:57saying that Putin is likely to institute
16:58a broad wave of mobilization
17:00following Russian parliamentary elections in September.
17:03Putin is going to expand this war.
17:05He needs more Russians to take part in assaults.
17:08We have intelligence that Russia is preparing
17:09a significant mobilization this fall.
17:11Zelensky declared in his daily evening address.
17:14If that's the case,
17:16then the hero that Ukraine has just made
17:17its commander-in-chief needs to act fast.
17:20The happiness and hope that surround his appointment
17:23are finite.
17:24What Ukraine really needs are results,
17:26and Dripatchi has to deliver.
17:28The man who became a legend in battle
17:30must now establish himself as the nightmare
17:32that Ukraine's army hopes that he will be for Russia.
17:35If anybody has that ability,
17:37it seems to be Dripatchi.
17:38The next couple of months will be crucial.
17:41They could make or break either Ukraine or Russia.
17:43One region that will be an immediate focus
17:45for Ukraine's new commander-in-chief
17:47is Konstantinivka.
17:49Russia has claimed it took the key fortress belt city.
17:52It didn't.
17:53Nowhere near.
17:53Instead, Ukraine lured Russian troops
17:55into a genius trap in the city,
17:57and it caused massive casualties
17:59by springing that trap.
18:00This is the type of operation
18:02that Dripatchi needs to build upon,
18:04and you can find out all about it
18:05by watching our video.
18:06And if you enjoyed this video,
18:08remember to subscribe to The Military Show
18:10and ring the notification bell
18:11to see more of our videos
18:13charting the changes inside Ukraine's military.
18:16And thank you, as always, for watching.
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