Russian law enforcement authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the newly appointed commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi, state media reported late Tuesday.
The Russian Interior Ministry’s wanted database lists Drapatyi without explicitly specifying the new charges against him, according to the news agency RIA Novosti.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s top investigative body, previously charged Drapatyi in 2023 over allegations involving the casualties of 154 people in eastern Ukraine under his command between 2017 and 2019.
The arrest warrant appeared just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed General Oleksandr Syrskyi and named Drapatyi as his replacement.
The leadership shake-up followed days of public street protests triggered by the earlier removal of Mykhailo Fedorov from his post as defense minister.
Drapatyi has fought Russian forces for over a decade. He first gained national fame in 2014 during fighting in Donbas when he ordered his armored vehicle to smash through a blockade in Mariupol to rescue besieged police officers.
Later that year, he successfully led an encircled unit out of Russian-controlled territory.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion, Drapatyi was repeatedly deployed to stabilize critical sectors of the front.
In mid-2024, he halted a Russian offensive near Kharkiv and helped hold the frontline, subsequently becoming the youngest-ever commander of the Ukrainian land forces, one of the most senior posts in the Ukrainian army.
Reuters contributed reporting.
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