Mychajlo Drapatyj has been Ukraine’s army chief for 100 days, becoming the third person to hold the post since Russia’s full-scale invasion. His appointment initially received a positive response from the military, partly because, at 43, he is considerably younger than his predecessors and has extensive frontline experience dating back to 2014.

Observers say Drapatyj has already introduced a different style of command. The emerging trend is less micromanagement from the top and greater responsibility for commanders at lower levels. Yuriy Butusov, a former war correspondent who is now a soldier, said army corps commanders no longer have to report to the commander-in-chief twice a day, reducing the time lost to administrative exchanges.

Drapatyj was appointed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after protests against his predecessor, Oleksandr Syrskyj. Critics had accused Syrskyj, among other things, of leading the army in an overly authoritarian manner.

The new army chief has also placed greater emphasis on larger operational structures. He created two army groups for the Donetsk region, where much of the fighting is concentrated. Each group consists of several corps, a structure intended to improve coordination.

Kremlin-critical Russian analysts have also noted changes in the fighting around the Donetsk region, a key Russian objective. Ruslan Leviev of the Conflict Intelligence Team said Russian forces had made little progress there for roughly a month and a half. He attributed the situation in part to the new command of the corps responsible for defending Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

Ukraine has also made a local advance in the northern Donetsk region in an operation it calls “Vivaldi.” The move disrupted Russian plans to encircle Sloviansk and Kramatorsk from the north. Leviev said the Ukrainian army was making better use of weaknesses in Russian forces following the changes in command, describing the operation as a recent example.

Different estimates indicate that, since Drapatyj took office, Russia has not gained more territory overall than Ukraine has recovered during the same period. Pro-Russian Telegram channels monitoring the war have reported a similar balance. Analysts nevertheless stress that the developments have so far mainly slowed the Russian advance; most experts do not currently consider large-scale Ukrainian reconquests possible.

Sources: Tagesschau.