Leadership reshuffle in the high command
Colonel Vadym Sukharevskyi will lead Ukraine’s Marines, replacing Major General Dmytro Deliatytskyi, according to reports from Ukrainska Pravda and Interfax-Ukraine on October 28. Sukharevskyi previously commanded the Unmanned Systems Forces, but disagreements with then-Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi led to his dismissal less than a year after his 2024 appointment to lead that pioneering new drone branch. He spent over a year in de facto wilderness as deputy commander of the Eastern Group of Forces, which serves as a temporary command umbrella covering most of the eastern front line. Mykhailo Drapatyi, who replaced Syrskyi, initiated this wider reshuffle of the high command to distance the military leadership from the Soviet-style leadership culture of his predecessor. This appointment brings a popular commander with experience in drone warfare back to a senior leadership position.
Sukharevskyi’s combat record
Sukharevskyi has a combat history dating back to April 2014, when he served as a senior lieutenant in the 80th Airborne Brigade and ordered his troops to open fire on Russian proxy forces in Sloviansk. Those shots marked the first time Ukrainian troops fired in the effort to quash the fake separatist uprising in Donbas. During the initial years of the full-scale war, he commanded the 59th Motorized Brigade, which was one of the major units that liberated the city of Kherson from Russian occupation. The Marine Corps, which is officially part of the navy, specializes in amphibious warfare similar to the Russian and U.S. Marine equivalents. Since the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian Marine brigades have fought in some of the most intense hotspots of the front line. These combat areas include the cities of Mariupol, Pokrovsk, and Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast, as well as the daring but costly Krynky offensive across the Dnipro River that occurred during 2023 and 2024.
| Marine Combat Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Specialty | Amphibious warfare |
| Combat Hotspots | Mariupol, Pokrovsk, and Kostiantynivka |
| Notable Operation | Krynky offensive (2023-2024) |
The Marine Corps remains a specialized part of the navy, carrying out amphibious warfare tasks similar to the practices seen in the United States or Russia.
