Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appointed Hennadii Shapovalov as commander of the country’s Ground Forces, according to a decree published on June 19 on the president’s website.
Until February 2025, Shapovalov led Ukraine’s Operational Command South. He then served as Ukraine’s representative to NATO’s Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) mission in Germany.
On June 1, Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi announced that he had submitted his resignation as commander of the Ground Forces. His decision came shortly after a Russian missile strike on one of the military’s training units killed 12 service members and wounded more than 60. “This is a deliberate decision, driven by my personal sense of responsibility for the tragedy at the 239th training ground, which claimed the lives of our soldiers,” Drapatyi said at the time.
Two days later, Drapatyi was appointed commander of Ukraine’s Joint Forces, a military body under the General Staff responsible for coordinating different troop groupings during large-scale operations.